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Shiells,  Robert,  1825-1908. 
The  story  of  the  token  as 
belonging  to  the  sacrament 


Cije 


AS    BELONGING   TO    THI 


Sacrament  of  tlie  Lord's  Supper. 


BY 

ROBERT  *'SHIELLS. 


Tell  ye  your  children  of  it,  and  let  your  children  tell  their 
children,  and  their  children  another  generation. — Joel  i  :  3. 


Nt.W  YORK: 
JO  H  N    I  RELAND 

1 197    BROADWAY. 


Copyright. 


DEDICATION. 


To  all  the  friends,  and  they  are  many, 
on  both  sides  of  the  sea,  who  have  given 
me  help  and  encouragement,  my  work  is 
respectfully  dedicated  as  a  ''  Token "  of 
appreciation  and  loving  remembrance. 

No  one  is  named,  but  each  one  may  read 
his  own  name  between  the  lines,  as  each 
one  is  duly  remembered  by 

His  Grateful  Friend, 

ROBERT    SHIELLS. 


PREFACE. 


I  have  no  apology  to  make  for  the  following  pages. 
The  story  they  tell  will  show  how  they  came  to  be 
written. 

I  hope  the  reader  will  find  the  narrative  not  so 
unimportant  as  it  may  appear  at  first  sight.  I  have 
used  my  most  diligent  endeavor  to  collect  all  the 
information  I  could,  concerning  what  has  become  to 
me,  an  interesting  study.  I  have  striven  to  tell 
what  I  know  about  a  practice  that  is  fast  becoming 
extinct,  and  to  preserve  its  memory  from  the  delenda 
est  of  the  waters  of  Lelhe. 

The  Token  was  once  a  visible  symbol  of  that 
which,  like  a  master-key,  opened  the  gates  of  salva- 
tion to  the  faithful  communicants  of  the  Church. 
Time-honored  as  the  custom  was,  it  will  soon  be 
forgotten.  I  would  fain  hope  that  I  have  been  able 
to  add  one  stone,  small  as  it  may  be,  to  its  cairn  of 
remembrance. 

It  is  with  no  affectation  of  humility  I  acknowledge 
that  neither  my  reading  nor  my  scholarship  fits  me 
to  be  an  authority  on  this  question.  I  shall  be  amply 
repaid  for  my  labor  if  what  I  have  written  shall 
incite  some  qualified  person  to  complete  the  story 
of  the  Token 


vi  PREFACE. 

Besides  being  encouraged  in  my  work  by  the  love 
which  I  bear  to  the  Church  in  which  I  was  reared,  I 
confess  that  I  have  also  endeavored  to  realize  that 
wish  of  which  Burns  speaks,  and  in  which  all  his 
countrymen  share  : — 

"  That  I,  for  poor  auld  Scotland's  sake, 
Some  usefu'  plan  or  book  could  make." 

And  now,  without  further  preface,  "  Behold  how 
that  I  have  not  laboured  for  myself  only,  but  for  all 
them  that  seek  wisdom  and  knowledge."  Ecclesias- 
ticus,  xxiv  :  39,  and  xxxiii :  16. 

"And  here  will  I  make  an  end.  If  I  have  done 
well,  and  as  the  story  required,  it  is  the  thing  that  I 
desired  :  but  if  I  have  spoken  slenderly  and  barely, 
I  have  done  that  I  could."     II.  Maccabees,  xv  :  39. 

As  these  sheets  pass  through  the  press,  I  cannot 
refrain  from  expressing  my  gratitude  to  The  Rev, 
Samuel  Macauley  Jackson,  of  New  York  City.  He 
has  held  up  my  hands  all  through  the  work,  and 
has  ungrudgingly  bestowed  upon  me  the  benefits 
of  his  experience.  He  has  made  many  valuable 
suggestions,  and  attended  closely  to  the  proof-read- 
ing.    I  thank  him  heartily. 

ROBERT  SHIELLS. 
Neenah,  Wisconsin, 
October  18,  1891. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Dedication 3 

Preface 5 

I.   Introduction     9 

II.    The  Origin  of   the  Token   25 

III.    Modern    References  to  the  Token.  ...  42 

IV.   English  Token   Usages 47 

V.   Substitutes  for  Tokens 55 

VI.    Migration  of  Tokens 60 

VII.    Antiquity  of   Tokens 76 

VIII.   Tokens  in  the  Early  Protestant  Records  79 

IX.   Tokens  in   France 85 

X.    Tokens  in  Holland 99 

XL   Tokens  Used   by  the  United  Brethren  106 

XII.   Early   Use  of  Tokens  in  Scotland....  112 

XIII.  General  Use  of  Tokens  in  Scotland..  119 

XIV.  Tokens   as    Connected  with  the  Lord's 

Supper    134 

XV.  Notices  of  Special  Tokens 137 

XVI.   Tokens  in  the  United    States 150 

XVII.   Conclusion 157 


For  in  her  rubbish  and  her  stones, 
Thy  servants  pleasure  take  ; 

Yea,  they  the  very  dust  thereof 
Do  favour  for  her  sake. 

Psalm  cii :   14. 

(Rous's  Version.) 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 


I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

NSERVATIVE  in  all  its 
ways  as  we  esteem  our 
Presbyterian  Church, 
with  its  Books  of  Order 
id  Discipline,  it  has  almost 
[perceptibly  changed  very 
much  in  many  of  its  practices 
and  details.  Its  bare  and  rigid  style 
of  worship  has  gradually  yielded  to  the 
modern  desire  for  beauty  and  show.  In 
music,  and  flowers,  and  aesthetic  decora- 
tion, it  has  become  second  to  none.  It 
has  begun  to  observe  "days,  and  months, 
and  times."  Holidays  which  our  found- 
ers would  have  refused  even  to  ''take 
up  their  names  into  their  lips,"  have  be- 
come "  set  times  "  in  our  yearly  worship. 
The  Church  has  held  fast  to  "the  form  of 
sound  words,"  but   some   forms   that  were 


10  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

once  considered  essential  to  the  well-order- 
ing of  its  services,  have  become  disused, 
and  even  obsolete. 

The  celebration  of  the  communion  has 
been  specially  shorn  of  what  were  formerly- 
thought  to  be  its  appropriate  and  necessary 
solemnities. 

It  is  true  that  the  simple,  yet  impressive 
ceremonial  used  to  be  prolonged  to  an 
extent  that  the  modern  church  member 
would  quickly  rebel  against.  But  the  old- 
time  worshipper  did  not  study  brevity,  and 
rather  insisted  on  "good  measure,  pressed 
down  and  running  over." 

The  time  can  still  be  remembered  when 
it  was  really  "the  great  day  of  the  feast." 
In  country  parishes,  observed  only  once  a 
year — requiring  a  staff  of  ministers  to 
carry  out  its  varied  and  lengthy  forms  of 
worship — hedged  about  with  days  of  fast- 
ing, and  preparation,  and  thanksgiving,  it 
was  indeed,  as  the  phrase  went,  "a  great 
occasion,"    to    which    the    people    looked 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  11 

forward  with  desire  and  looked  back  with 
delight. 

Nowadays  all  is  changed  and  our  fathers 
would  mournfully  exclaim,  "  the  glory  is 
departed  from  Israel." 

If  there  are  what  may  be  termed  sacred 
mysteries  pertaining  to  our  Presbyterian 
ritual,  they  are  certainly  those  connected 
with  the  observance  of  an  old-time  Com- 
munion, The  celebration  began  with  the 
long  penitential  prayer  and  the  other  pro- 
tracted exercises  of  the  day  of  humiliation 
and  fasting  :  a  day  kept,  if  possible,  with 
more  than  Sabbatical  strictness. 

Then  came  the  usual  lengthy  preparation 
services  of  the  Saturday,  followed  by  the 
plain,  but  strikingly  impressive  worship  of 
the  Sabbath  itself. 

The  church  had  then  assumed  an 
appearance  of  simple,  yet  awe-inspiring 
decoration.  The  front  seats  converted 
into  tables,  covered  with  spotless  linen, 
looked    as    if  they   were   made    ready    for 


12  STOUT  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

saintly  guests.  The  service  opened  with 
the  usual  preliminaries,  which  ushered  in 
the  "action  sermon,"  bristling  with  duties, 
sparkling  with  promises,  and  fully  setting 
forth  the  privileges  to  be  enjoyed.  This 
was  the  introduction  to  that  stirring 
address  known  as  the  "  fencing  of  the 
tables."  All  those  who  knew  that  they 
were  presumptuously  living  in  sin,  open  or 
secret,  were  solemnly  warned  not  to  ap- 
proach the  sacred  feast,  as  they  would  ''eat 
and  drink  judgment  to  themselves."  On 
the  other  hand,  all  who  felt  the  sweet  pains 
of  repentance,  who  were  earnestly  striving 
after  newness  of  life  and  sincerity  of 
obedience,  were  lovingly  invited  to  sit 
down  at  the  table  of  the  Lord  and  partake 
of  its  spiritual  bounties. 

Quietly  and  reverently  the  communicants 
filed  into  the  appointed  seats.  The  sacra- 
mental emblems  were  uncovered,  with  all 
the  modest  pomp  of  the  Communion  vessels. 
The  tables  were  "served"  (as  it  was  termed) 


STORY  OF  THE   TOKEN.  13 

by  each  officiating  minister  in  turn.  At 
the  conclusion  of  his  address,  the  vener- 
able elders  dispensed  the  consecrated  ele- 
ments, and  the  clergyman  added  a  few 
words  of  comfort  and  cheer,  usually  dis- 
missing the  worshippers  with  "go  from  His 
table,  singing  His  praise,  and  the  God  of 
all  peace  go  with  you."  As  the  tables  were 
emptied  at  the  one  end  they  were  slowly 
filled  at  the  other,  and  so  the  solemnities 
went  on  till  all  had  enjoyed  the  privilege 
of  obeying  the  Lord's  command,  "  This  do 
in  remembrance  of  Me." 

On  one  occasion  (not  many  years  ago),  in 
the  south  of  Scotland,  the  number  present 
was  so  great  that  fifteen  successive  tables 
were  addressed  by  the  ministers  in  attend- 
ance before  all  the  members  had  communi- 
cated. 

The  exercises  were  plentifully  inter- 
spersed with  the  singing  of  "  those  strains 
that  once  did  sweet  in  Zion  glide." 
Rous's    Psalms,  generally  with   the   "  read 


14  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

line,"  filled  up  every  possible  breathing 
space.  I  remember  the  One  Hundred  and 
Third  Psalm  as  an  especial  favorite  at  such 
times. 

This  work  was  kept  up  without  intermis- 
sion for  seven  or  eight  hours.  * 

There  was  sermon  again  in  the  evening, 
and  on  Monday  there  was  a  thanksgiving 
service  of  praise  and  preaching,  which 
brought  the  great  gathering  to  a  close. 

All  this  has  now  disappeared,  and  the 
mutilated  ceremony  of  to-day  barely  oc- 
cupies the  time  set  apart  for  the  ordinary 
church  service. 


*  The  diary  of  Rev.  John  Mill,  of  Shetland,  has 
many  references  to  the  immense  labor  performed  by 
ministers  on  such  occasions.  He  notes,  August  27, 
1775,  "  The  Sacrament  was  celebrated  at  Sandwick. 
I  was  told  I  would  kill  myself  with  so  much  work, 
having  preached  six  times  and  served  seven  tables. 
I  replied  that,  in  this  event,  I  would  die  in  a  good 
cause."  And  again,  August,  17S0,  at  the  same 
place,  he  speaks  of  himself  as  "preaching  all  the 
day  and  serving  seven  tables."  jMill's  Diary, 
Edinburgh,  1889,  pp.  44  and  60. 


STORT  OF  THE  TOKEN.  15 

My  present  intention  is,  not  to  moralize 
over  these  alterations,  but  to  call  attention 
to  one  minor  ceremon}-  which  has  fallen, 
not  only  into  disuse,  but  almost  into  utter 
forgetfulness. 

This  is,  the  distribution  of  the  Tokens 
at  the  close  of  the  Thursday's  services,  and 
the  "  lifting  "  of  them  on  the  Sabbath,  when 
the  communicants  were  seated  at  the  sacra- 
mental table. 

There  are  thousands  of  Presbyterians  in 
the  United  States  who  never  even  heard  of 
the  Communion  Token  and  would  be  utter- 
ly at  a  loss  to  know  how,  or  where,  such  a 
thing  could  be  used.  To  all  such  I  wish 
to  offer  a  brief  description. 

When  the  worshippers  were  being  dis- 
missed on  the  Fast-day,  the  minister  and 
elders  stood  in  front  of  the  pulpit.  As  the 
members  filed  past,  those  who  were  in 
good  standing  and  worthy  to  communicate, 
were  handed  each  a  small  piece  of  metal 
known  as  a  Token. 


16  8T0RT  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

The  importance  and  solemnity  with 
which  this  distribution  was  regarded  may 
be  inferred  from  what  is  recorded  of 
Rev.  George  Gillespie,  minister  of  Strath- 
miglo,  Scotland.  "  He  never  gave  a 
Token  of  admission  to  the  Lord's  Supper 
without  a  trembling  hand  and  a  throbbing 
heart."  * 

The  individual  appearance  of  applicants 
used  to  be  strictly  insisted  on.  The  Ses- 
sion Records  of  Edinburgh,  1574,  appoint 
that  "the  whole  communicants  come  in 
proper  person  upon  Friday  next,  at  two 
hours  afternoon,  and  receive  their  tickets 
in  the  places  of  examination."!  This  rule 
of  personal  presence  was  long  enforced 
throughout  the  entire  church.  I  remem- 
ber hearing  it  condemned  as  a  very  loose 
practice,  when  some  ministers  relaxed  so 
far    as    to    give    Tokens,    when    neighbors 


*  Scott's  Fasti.     Vol.  IV.,  p.  510. 
f  Edgar's  Old  Church  Life  i>i  Scotland.    Vol.  T., 
p.   134- 


STORY  OF  THE   TOKEN.  17 

asked  them  for  absent  friends  who  were 
unable  to  be  present. 

In  the  days  when  Cluirch  discipline  was 
real  and  meant  something,  persons  resting 
under  temporary  disqualification  were  sum- 
marily refused  Tokens,  and  were  thus  de- 
barred from  the  coming  solemnities.*  Those 
who  feared  rejection,  refrained  from  pre- 
senting themselves. 

On  the  Sabbath,  when  the  elders  passed 
along  the  tables,  they  received  from  each 
communicant  the  token  which  vouched  for 
his  being  of  the  "household  of  faith"  and 
gave  him  a  right  to  sit  with  the  people  of 
God.     This,  in   short,   was  the   manner   of 


*  In  many  Churches,  an  annual  list  was  made  up 
of  those  who  were  to  be  refused  Tokens,  and  the 
names  were  frequently  continued  from  year  to  year. 
Still  this  discreditable  roll  did  not  by  any  means 
consist  of  those  who  were  liable  to  expulsion,  or 
even  to  the  minor  excommunication.  In  Mauchline, 
1775.  John  Richmond  joined  the  Secession  Church 
and  his  name  was  forthwith  added  to  the  black  list, 
without  his  being  cited  or  troubled  in  any  way. 
Edgar's  Old  Church  Life.  Vol.  I,  p.  281. 


18  STORT  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

using  those  diminutive  tablets.  Greatly- 
honored,  and  even  reverenced  they  were 
by  the  devout  men  and  women  who  had 
them  in  keeping  only  for  a  day  or  two,  and 
who  looked  upon  them  as  their  passport  of 
entrance  into  the  very  Holy  of  Holies  of 
their  religion.  To  them,  the  Token  was 
like  the  wedding  garment  of  the  parable 
and  was  deemed  equally  indispensable. 

Little  of  this  now  remains.  The  Token 
has  apparently  outlived  its  usefulness.  In 
this  country  some  churches  of  the  United 
Presbyterian,  and  the  Reformed  Presby- 
terian bodies,  still  "ask  for  the  old  paths 
and  walk  therein,"  though  the  Token  is 
gradually  falling  out  of  repute  with  them 
also.  Even  in  Scotland  it  is  now  being 
superseded  by  a  system  of  cards  and 
checks  which  serve  to  show  how  regu- 
larly each  member  "  waits  upon  the  ordi- 
nances." 

The  Token  itself  was  usually  a  small 
plate   of  lead,    marked    with   some   device 


STORT  OF  THE  TOKEN.  19 

referring  to  the  congregation  which  owned 
it,  or  to  the  ordinance  with  which  it  was 
connected,  the  date  of  church  organization 
or  of  pastorate,*  and,  "  Let  a  man  examine 
himself,"  or  some  such  appropriate  text. 
On  some  specimens  a  large  numeral  stand- 
ing by  itself,  indicated  the  number  of  the 
table  at  which  the  communicant  ought  to 
present  himself.  Any  or  all  of  these  were 
stamped  on  the  little  piece  of  metal  and 
marked  it  as  being  "set  apart  from  a  com- 
mon to  a  holy  use." 

A  somewhat  modern  innovation  in  all 
the  Token  countries  is  the  use  of  Tokens 
without  "a  local  habitation  or  a  name." 
They  have  neither  place  nor  date  to  iden- 
tify them  with  a  home.  Garnished  with 
some  goodly  texts  to  mark  their  sacred 
office,  they  can  be  used  any  where  and  are 
known  as  Stock  Tokens. 


*I  believe  that  no  dated  Scotch  Tokens  are 
found  before  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 


Churches  in  the  large  towns  sometimes 
mixed  secular  with  sacred  emblems  on  the 
consecrated  medals,  and  displayed  their 
city  arms.  I  have  such  examples  from 
Glasgow  and  Perth,  as  well  as  from  the 
metropolitan  city  of  Edinburgh.  These  last 
bear  the  familiar  and  not  inappropriate 
motto.    Nisi  Dominus  Frustra.^ 

In  1559,  I  find  the 
Edinburgh  Dean  of  Guild 
contracting  with  one  of 
the  city  goldsmiths  for 
"tikkets"  and  "stamping 
of  thame."  The  same 
functionary  has,  till  with- 
in a  few  years,  furnished 
the  Edinburgh  Establish- 
ed Church  Tokens.  Like 
the    consuls    of     ancient 

'^Nisi    DoDiimis    ciistodierit    civitatem,    frustra 
vigilat  qui  cusiodit  earn.     Psalm  cxxvii  :   I. 
Except  the  Lord  the  city  keep, 
The  watchmen  watch  in  vain. 

Rous's  Version. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 


21 


Rome,  the  Dean  perpetuated  his  executive 
connection  with  the  city  by  marking  his 
initials  and  date  of  office  on  each  issue  of 
the  Tokens.*  I  have  six  of 
these  magisterial  vouchers, 
the  dates  running  from  1754 
to  1837.  I  also  have  armorial 
Tokens  from  Haddington  and 
^^s^  from  the  ancient  burgh  of 
Canongate.  The  motto  of 
the  latter  is  strikingly  sug- 
gestive in  this  connection, 
Sic  itur  ad  astra.  ("  Thus 
do  we  reach  the  stars, "or  "  immortality. ")f 
Country  parishes  could  not  command  the 
services  of  an  artist  who  "devised  cunning 

*  The  illustration  shows  the  obverse  and  reverse 
of  one  of  those  civic  Tokens  ;  R.  J.  D.  G.  stands 
for  Robert  Johnston,  Dean  of  Guild. 

f  The  goat  on  the  shield-shaped  Token,  is  the 
cognizance  of  the  ancient  burgh  of  Haddington. 
The  stag's  head,  with  the  crosslet  between  its 
horns,  is  the  crest  of  the  Canongate  arms.  It  refers 
to  a  well  known  incident  in  Scottish  history,  A.  D. 
112S. 


23  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

works,  to  work  in  gold  and  in  silver."  Their 
Tokens  were  generally  rude  and  primitive 
in  design,  and  showed  what  might  be  the 
handiwork  of  the  village  blacksmith. 
Wealthy  congregations  had  them  of  more 
artistic  patterns.  Some  were  aristocratic 
enough  to  use  Tokens  of  nickel  and  even 
of  silver. 

I  have  one  from  the  First  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church  of  New  York  City, 
which  is  made  of  ivory.  The  only  case  I 
know  of  where  this  material  has  been 
used.  This  Token  was  employed  in  the 
Church  services  up  to  a  very  recent 
date. 

Tokens  were  usually  cast  in  a  mould  or 
struck  as  with  an  old-fashioned  coin  stamp. 
Not  a  few  antique  specimens  have  the  in- 
scriptions simply  indented  with  letter 
punches.  Inventories  of  church  property 
very  often  include  the  Token  mould. 

In  May,  1590,  I  find  that  Patrick  Guthrie, 
a  goldsmith  in  St.   Andrews  and  deacon  of 


STORY  OF  THE   TOKEN.  23 

the  guild  of  hammermen,  "  has  made  the 
irons  for  striking  of  the  Tokens  to  the  com- 
munion, and  has  received  from  the  session 
for  his  pains  xls."  In  July,  1590,  it  is 
noted  that  "  the  session  has  paid  to  Patrick 
Guthrie,  for  two  thousand  Tokens  to  the 
communion,  ten  merks."*  Soon  after  this, 
there  is  mention  that  upwards  of  three 
thousand  communicants  partook  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  in  St.  Andrews,  so  that  a 
large  number  of  Tokens  must  have  been 
necessary. 

To  keep  up  the  needful  supply  of  Tokens 
was  considered  a  duty  incumbent  on  the 
minister.  At  his  installation,  he  would 
probably  be  reminded  to  walk  in  the  way 
of  his  predecessor  in  this,  as  in  other  par- 
ticulars. I  have  read  of  a  case  where  the 
mould  was  formally  handed  to  the  new 
pastor,  as  if  it  had  been  a  necessary  badge 
of  his  ministerial  office. 


''^Register    of  Si.     Andrews     Kirk     Session,  pp. 
672,  677. 


24  STORT  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

It  was  a  common  custom  to  get  a  new 
pattern  for  the  Token  when  anew  minister 
was  ordained,  and  there  were  instances  of 
clergymen  vain  enough  to  insist  on  this  as 
a  means  of  transmitting  their  names  to 
posterity. 

Some  Laodicean  sessions  sold  their  old 
Tokens  as  waste  metal,  though  generally 
they  were  melted  down  for  the  new  issue. 
Some  ultra  scrupulous  officials  buried  their 
discarded  symbols,  lest  they  should  be 
profaned  by  being  used  for  any  meaner 
purpose. 

It  will  scarcely  be  believed  that,  even  at 
the  present  day,  some  ministers  have  buried 
their  disused  Tokens,  for  fear  they  should 
fall  into  the  possession  of  an  intelligent 
collector,  who  would  thus  be  sacrilegiously 
guilty  of  laying  hold  of  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  with  unhallowed  hands. 


II. 

THE    ORIGIN    OF    THE    TOKEN. 

A  Token  has  been  exactly  defined  as  "a 
sign,  mark,  or  remembrancer  of  something 
beyond  itself.  A  pledge  that  something 
then  specified  shall  be  done  or  given." 

When  God  brought  Noah  out  of  the  ark, 
He  said,  "This  is  the  token  of  the  covenant 
which  I  make  between  Me  and  you, — I  do 
set  my  bow  in  the  cloud,  and  it  shall 
be  for  a  token  between  Me  and  the 
earth." 

We  find  tokens  of  various  kinds  often 
repeated  in  His  dealings  with  His  chosen 
servants  and  His  people. 

It  may  be  noted  here,  that  from  the  first 
time  the  word  is  used  in  the  Authorized 
Version  of  the  Bible,  "This  is  the  token  of 
the  covenant,"  (Gen.  ix:  12)  to  its  last  men- 
tion by  St.  Paul,  (2  Thess.  in:    17)   "mine 


26  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

own  hand, — the  token  in  every  epistle," 
the  word  is  invariably  "  a  token  for  good," 
with  one  terrible  exception,  (Mark  xiv:  44) 
"he  that  betrayed  Him  had  given  them  a 
token." 

In  the  Apocryphal  Book  of  Tobit  there 
is  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  use  of 
Tokens  in  daily  life.  My  black-letter  copy 
of  1584  refers  to  the  practice  more  plainly 
than  the  common  version.  Tobit  lends  his 
friend  Gabael  ten  talents  of  silver  "  under 
an  handwriting."  In  his  poverty  many 
years  afterwards,  he  remembers  the  loan 
and  commissions  his  son  Tobias  to  recover 
the  money  from  Gabael,  "  and  give  him 
his  handwriting  again."  Tobias  objects, 
that  he  is  a  stranger  to  the  debtor  and  asks 
(Tobit  v:  2)  "what  token  shall  I  give  him?" 
Tobit  makes  answer  t\\2i\.t\\Q chirographum, 
which  is  still  in  his  possession,  will  be  suf- 
ficient evidence  that  Tobias  is  the  proper 
person  to  receive  the  silver.  All  which 
proved  to  be  correct.   Gabael  acknowledged 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  27 

and  redeemed  his  token  by  prompt  and 
full  payment  of  the  debt. 

In  all  ages,  and  among  all  nations,  there 
was  a  constant  endeavor  to  invent  a  suitable 
emblem  which  would  mark  its  possessor  as 
the  votary  of  some  special  religion,  and  re- 
veal him,  either  openly  or  secretly,  to  his 
fellow-believers.  Among  such  symbols 
may  be  specified  amulets,  talismans,  scara- 
baei,  phylacteries.  Gnostic  gems  and  scapu- 
laries. 

The  Abraxas  stones  of  the  first  and 
second  centuries  are  a  strong  case  in 
point. 

The  Greek  system  of  numeral  letteis 
had  been  in  use  since  the  days  of  Homer. 
About  the  time  of  the  Christian  era,  many 
fanciful  applications  of  this  value  of  letters 
were  much  in  vogue.  Even  St.  John  (Rev. 
xiii:  i8)  makes  use  of  the  then  familiar 
method.  "  Let  him  that  hath  understanding 
count  the  number  of  the  beast:  for  it  is  the 
number  of  a  man." 


28  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

Basilides,  a  Gnostic  heretic  (ci?'ca  A.  D. 
no)  and  founder  of  a  sect,  adopted  the 
mystic  word  Abraxas,  or  Abrasax,  as  com- 
prising the  letters  which  represented  365, 
the  number  of  the  emanations  of  perfec- 
tions on  which  his  system  rested.  Gems  or 
Tokens,  engraved  with  this  name,  were  ac- 
counted all-powerful  for  a  great  variety  of 
purposes,  when  the  possessors  had  attained 
to  a  full  understanding  of  the  things  signi- 
fied. At  the  same  time,  they  were  first 
given  to  neophytes  as  a  convenient  symbol 
by  which  they  could  be  recognized  at  once, 
and  admitted  to  the  secret  gatherings 
where  their  enlightenment  was  to  be  com- 
pleted. 

Singularly  enough,  in  connection  with 
the  subject  in  hand,  it  is  stated  that  "  these 
gems  were  composed  of  various  materials, 
— glass,  paste,  minerals,  and  sometimes  of 
metal."  * 


*  George    Fort,    Medical     Ecoitoviy   during   the 
Middle  Ages.     London,  1883.  pp.  93-98. 


STOBT  OF  THE  TOKEN.  29 

Tokens  had  thus  become  a  custom  fully 
recognized  by  the  nations  at  large,  especially 
by  those  guilds  and  brotherhoods  so  com- 
mon among  the  peoples  of  antiquity. 

The  Roman  Tesserae,  or  Tokens,  were 
freely  used  for  identifying  those  who  had 
been  initiated  into  the  Eleusinian  and 
other  sacred  mysteries.  They  were  given  to 
the  victors  at  the  public  games,  as  vouchers 
that  they  were  for  life,  the  wards  of  the 
state.  They  were  given  to  poor  citizens  as 
an  order  on  the  authorities  for  a  certain 
amount  of  grain. 

A  tessera  ?mm?naria  performed  the  func- 
tions of  a  modern  bill  of  exchange,  or  as  in 
the  case  of  Tobit,  of  a  note  of  hand.  The 
tesserae  cojiviviales  must  have  been  nearly 
the  same  as  our  invitation  cards  to  a  party, 
and  were  handed  to  the  slave  who  kept  the 
door  at  the  banqueting  house. 

The  exigencies  of  modern  society  in 
large  cities  are  compelling  a  return  to  the 
ancient  practice.    Guests  who   are  bidden 


30  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

to  a  fashionable  reception  are  now  required 
to  show  their  cards  as  a  guarantee  that  they 
have  really  been  invited. 

When  the  Roman  ambassadors  went  to 
Carthage  on  a  mission  involving  war  or 
peace,  they  offered  the  Carthaginians  two 
tesserae,  one  marked  with  a  spear,  the  other 
with  a  caduceus,  and  requested  them  to 
take  their  choice.  * 

Tesserae  were  largely  used  as  New  Year's 
gifts  and  often  bore  inscriptions  almost 
identical  with  those  on  our  own  festival 
cards.  "  May  the  New  Year  prove  fortu- 
nate and  happy  unto  thee,"  (^Amium  Novum 
faustum  et  felicevi  tibi)  is  an  example  in 
point. f 


*  Hasta  et  cadiiceiis,  sigiia  duo  belli  met  pads. 
The  caduceus  was  originally  an  olive  branch,  the 
universal  emblem  of  peace.  The  hasta  was  the 
recognized  symbol  of  legal  possession.  Smith's 
Diet,  of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiq.,  Art.  Tessera. 
p.  799. 

f  Martigny,  Diet.  Antiq.  Chret.  Art.  Etrennes, 
p.  241. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  31 

Martigny  describes  a  tessera  of  rock-crystal, 
the  legend  on  which  proves  that  it  was  a 
New  Year's  gift  to  the  Emperor  Commo- 
dus,  circa  A.  D.  190.* 

More  sacred  than  all  were  the  tesserae 
hospitales  which  were  used  between  families 
bound  together  by  the  closest  ties  of  in- 
terest and  love.  Such  a  tessera  gave  the 
holder  a  claim  on  the  protection  of  all  those 
who  knew  its  secret  meaning.  It  descended 
as  an  heirloom  from  one  generation  to 
another.  The  homeless  and  wayworn  wan- 
derer was  admitted  into  the  bosom  of  the 
allied  household  and  had  all  his  wants  sup- 
plied if  he  could  show,  (even  though  it  was 
years  before)  that  their  respective  forefa- 
thers had  exchanged  the  tesserae  of  concord 
and  friendship. 

The  early  Christian  Church  would  readi- 
ly adopt  the  custom  as  a  safeguard  against 
traitors  and  informers.  The  defection  of 
"  the  man  of  Kerioth  "  taught  the  perse- 
*  Martigny,   Diet.   Antiq.  CJu-et..,   p.   632. 


32  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

cuted  brethren  the  necessity  for  a  Token 
and  a  password  to  be  entrusted  only  to 
those  of  tried  and  approved  standing. 

We  do  know  that  tesserae  baptismales 
were  given  to  the  converts  who,  by  baptism, 
were  added  to  the  Church. 

In  the  Apocalypse  we  find  the  promise 
"to  him  that  overcometh  "  in  the  church 
at  Pergamos,  (Rev.  ii  :  17)  "I  will  give  him 
a  white  stone,  and  in  the  stone  a  new 
name  written,  which  no  man  knoweth, 
saving  he  that  receiveth  it."  Does  not 
this  plainly  refer  to  the  tessera  that 
admitted  the  stranger  brother  to  the 
agapae  and  communion  feasts  of  the  primi- 
tive believers  ?  Is  it  not  an  allusion  to  a 
form  knovn  and  used  by  all  to  whom  the 
Apostle  was  writing  ? 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  rewards 
which  are  to  be  given  "  to  him  that  over- 
cometh "  in  the  other  six  churches,  are  all 
well  known  blessings,  easily  understood 
and  applied  to  spiritual  honors  and  benefits 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  33 

which  are  more  or  less  familiar  to  every 
one.  The  distinction  promised  to  mem- 
bers of  the  church  at  Pergamos  is  the 
only  one  to  the  nature  of  which  we  now 
attach  any  doubt  or  uncertainty.  When 
the  light  of  the  tessera,  or  Token,  is  turned 
upon  the  promise,  all  obscurity  vanishes. 
The  true  meaning  is  clearly  evident  and 
*'  the  secret  of  the  Lord  stands  revealed." 

The  Token  must  thus  have  come  down 
to  us  from  the  earliest  times  of  Christian- 
ity. When  it  was  difficult  to  tell  who 
could  be  trusted,  it  would  be  readily 
accepted  as  a  convenient  method  for  ex- 
cluding impostors  who  sought  to  destroy 
the  new  faith,  or  renegades  who  had 
disgraced  their  profession. 

I  am  not  church  historian  enough  to 
trace  the  continuous  use  of  Tokens  down 
through  the  ages.  The  sources  of  infor- 
mation at  my  command  are  too  limited 
to  furnish  me  with  full  details  on  the  sub- 
ject.   At  the  same  time  I  cannot  help  find- 


34  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

ing  my  opinion  strongly  confirmed  by 
several  of  the  practices  connected  with 
admission  into  the  early  Christian  Church. 

The  fathers  evidently  came  near  the 
pattern  set  by  the  Pythagorean  and  Platonic 
schools  of  philosophy.  They  probably  did 
not  carry  the  system  of  exoteric  and  esoteric 
teachings  as  far  as  the  philosophers,  but 
they  followed  their  example  very  closely. 

The  Lord's  injunction  (Matt,  vii:  6) 
'*  give  not  that  which  is  holy  unto  the  dogs, 
neither  cast  ye  your  pearls  before  swine," 
was  literally  obeyed  in  their  intercourse 
with  the  heathen.  They  further  defended 
their  conduct  in  this  respect  by  the  words  of 
St.  Paul  to  the  Corinthians,  (i  Cor.  in:  i)  "  I 
could  not  speak  unto  you  as  unto  spiritual, 
but  as  unto  carnal,"  and  dwelt  strongly  on 
the  differences  set  forth  in  Heb.  v:  12-14,  of 
"  milk  for  the  babes,"  and  "  strong  meat 
for  them  that  are  of  full  age."* 


*"  We  speak  wisdom  among  them    that    are  per- 
fect," or  initiated.    TtXeiOl,    1  Cor.  11  :  6. 


•     STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  35 

A  system  known  as  the  Arcani  Disciplina^ 
or  secret  teaching,  became  the  recog- 
nized practice  of  the  Church.  This  pre- 
vailed from  the  middle  of  the  second 
century  and  regulated  the  intercourse  of 
the  Fideles^  or  fully  initiated  believers,  with 
all  who  were  outside  of  the  pale.  The 
simplest  doctrines  were  not  even  stated  to 
the  heathen  neighbor,  who  disputed 
merely  for  the  sake  of  argument.  The 
enquirer  who  seemed  actuated  by  a  better 
spirit  had  the  rudiments  of  the  new  faith 
carefully  and  sparingly  revealed  to  him. 
Even  when  recognized  as  a  Catechume?i*  or 
convert  under  training,  his  course  of 
probation  was  prolonged  and  sometimes 
tedious. 

Catechumens  were  broadly  divided  into 
two  classes,  the  Audienies,  or  hearers,  and 


*This  term  is  used  {Acts  xviii:  25)  in  connection 
with  Apollos  who  "was  instructed  in  the  way  of 
ih&l.ord.'''  Kari]XOV)xei^OSy — catechumenized, — 
initiated. 


36  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

the  Compete?iteSy  or  those  who  were 
sufficiently  taught.  The  hearers  were  per 
mitted  to  attend  the  opening  services  of 
the  Church,  such  as  the  psahns  and  the 
sermon,  but  were  sent  away  before  the 
prayers.  The  sacraments,  the  creeds,  and 
the  sublime  doctrines  of  the  Trinity,  and 
the  atonement  were  reckoned  among  the 
hidden  mysteries  {occulta)  only  to  be  made 
known  to  those  who  were  fully  initiated 
and  accounted  as  Fideles,  the  faithful 
ones.  The  properly  instructed  novices 
were  accepted  as  candidates  for  baptism 
and  advanced  accordingly.  Even  their 
progress  was  so  gradual  that  they  were 
taught  the  Lord's  Prayer  only  a  week 
before  they  were  baptized. 

At  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Com- 
munion the  greatest  care  and  vigilance 
were  used  so  as  to  exclude  all  unbelievers 
or  improper  persons.  The  church  doors 
were  shut  and  guarded  by  the  appointed 
officers.     The   neophytes   were  sent  away, 


STORY  OF  TEE  TOKEN.  37 

{mtssa  catechumenoriivi)  and  even  the  faith- 
ful were  not  admitted  if  they  came  late  to 
the  solemnity.  "  Let  the  doors  be  watched, 
lest  any  unbelieving  or  uninitiated  person 
enter,"  was  the  emphatic  commandment.* 

When  the  ceremony  was  about  to  com- 
mence, when  the  priest  stood  ready  to 
uncover  the  elements  which  had  been  set 
on  the  communion  table  and  covered  with 
the  sacred  veil,  the  deacon  shouted,  "  the 
doors  !  the  doors  !"  The  attendants  sprang 
forward  to  close  the  church  gates  and  keep 
out  all  who  had  not  attained  to  full 
membership.! 

The  trouble  that  might  ensue  ''because 
of  false  brethren  unawares  brought  in,  who 
came  in  privily  to  spy  out  our  liberty,"  (Gal. 
11:4)  was  sedulously  guarded  against.  Un- 
known members  from  distant  congregations 


*Smith   and    Cheetham's    Dicty.    Christ.  Antiq., 
Art,  Holy  Communion,  p.   413. 

\Dicty.     Christ.     Antiq.,    Art.     Canon     of    the 
Liturgy,  p.  273. 


38  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

had  to  present  Letters  of  Communion  or  of 
Commendation  {Litferae  cotnmunicatoriae 
aut  commendatoriae)  from  the  churches  to 
which  they  belonged. 

The  first  of  these  letters  seem  to  have 
been  akin  to  the  Tokens  and  admitted  the 
bearers  to  participate  in  the  Holy  Com- 
munion. The  second  were  more  general 
and  commended  the  strangers  not  only  to 
the  privileges  of  the  Church,  but  also  to 
the  confidence  and  hospitality  of  the 
membership.  They  were  such  letters  as 
St.  Paul  speaks  of  (2  Cor,  iii:  i)  "  need  we, 
as  some  others,  epistles  of  commendation 
to  you,  or  letters  of  commendation  from 
you?"  By  virtue  of  his  office  as  an 
apostle,  he  neither  brought  them  nor 
required  them.  They  were  such  letters 
as  were  given  to  ApoUos  when  he  went 
from  Ephesus  to  Achaia  and  "  the 
brethren  wrote  exhorting  the  disciples  to 
receive  him, "(Acts  xviii:  27.)  Both  formulas 
differed  from  the  Dimissory  Letters  which 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  39 

were  granted  to  those  who  made  a  perma- 
nent change  of  residence  and  church 
connection. 

Still  another  document  called  a  Koinon- 
ikon  {jiOiVGDViJiOv)  was  given  to  the  really 
poor  Christian  who  depended  on  the 
charity  of  his  brethren  to  help  him  on  his 
journey  and  also  looked  to  them  for 
church  fellowship.  His  claims  for  spirit- 
ual and  temporal  recognition  were  not  to 
be  allowed  unless  he  w^as  duly  accredited. 
The  church  rule  was  plain  and  emphatic, 
"if  he  shall  choose  to  go  without  one," 
^littera peregrinoruiti)  "let  him  be  removed 
from  communion."*  On  the  other  hand, 
wherever  the  Christian  traveller  journeyed, 
if  he  went  provided  with  the  appointed 
letters,  he  found  that  the  "communion  of 
peace,"  {j:ommuuicatio pads)  and  the  "bond 
of  hospitality  among  strangers"  [contesse- 
ratio  hospitalitatis)  were    fully  recognized. 


^Diciy.  Christ.  Aniiq.,  p.  907. 


40  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

In  course  of  time,  many  of  these  differ- 
ent letters  were  written  without  any  name 
being  inserted.  This  was  afterwards  con- 
demned as  a  lax  and  pernicious  practice, 
since  it  permitted  them  to  be  handed  from 
one  person  to  another.*  For  an  additional 
security,  the  seal  of  the  church  or  bishop 
was  affixed  to  the  letter,  and  it  seems 
probable  that  the  sigillum,  or  seal  alone, 
came  to  be  accepted  as  a  sufficient  voucher. 
At  length,  any  certificate  of  member- 
ship was  designated  as  a  Formata^  a 
word  which  signifies  not  only  a  formal  re- 
script or  mandate,  but  also  the  stamp  or 
official  impression  on  a  coin  or  piece  of 
metal. 

The  whole  system  of  supervision  was  so 

strict  and  so  efficient  that  an   eminent  au- 

thorf  does  not  hesitate  to  assert   that  "  no 

* Dicty.  Christ.  Antiq.,  p.  408.  The  practice  was 
formally  condemned  by  the  Council  of  Aries,  A.  D. 

314. 

f  The  late  Dean  Plumptre  in  the  Dicty.  Christ. 
Antiq.,   Art.  Commendatory  Letters,  p.  407. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  41 

single  practice  of  the  early  Christian 
Church  tended  so  much  as  this,  to  impress 
on  it  the  stamp  of  unity  and  organiza- 
tion." 


III. 

MODERN    REFERENCES  TO  THE    TOKEN. 

This  is  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
identify  the  established  checks  and  safe- 
guards of  the  primitive  Church  with  the 
issue  and  use  of  the  communion  Tokens. 
Some  better  scholar  may  be  able  to  take 
up  the  clue  I  have  indicated  and  follow  it 
to  a  certainty. 

At  the  same  time,  the  following  authori- 
ties seem  to  strengthen  my  position  that  the 
Tokens,  or  tesserae,  of  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans had  easily  paved  the  way  for  the 
introduction  of  communion  certificates 
{formatae)  into  the  Christian  Church. 

A  learned  Episcopal  writer*  says,  "  in  the 
time  of  persecution,  Christians  recognized 
each    other    by    secret    signs    or    symbols, 


*  Venerable  Samue!  Cheetham,  M.A.,  King's  Col- 
lege, London.  Dicty.  Christ.  Antiq.  Art.  Tesserae, 
p.  1952. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  43 

whether  spoken  as  watchwords,  or  pictorial. 
Small  tablets  engraved  with  such  symbols 
were  called  Tesserae.  It  seems  also  prob- 
able that  Christians,  like  their  pagan  fore- 
fathers, gave  Tesserae  to  each  other  as 
pledges  of  friendship." 

A  distinguished  prelate  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church*  writes  as  follows, — "  The 
early  Christians  had  the  Tokens  you  refer 
to,  as  signs  of  their  faith  and  as  a  means  of 
being  recognized  by  each  other,  even  in 
the  second  century.  These  emblems  were 
of  ivory,  of  metal,  and  of  stone.  I  think 
that  metallic  tablets  were  used  as  signs  of 
having  received  communion.  The  custom 
of  giving  such  Tokens  is  well  known.  It 
is  kept  up  at  the  present  day  in  Rome,  by 
means  of  printed  cards.  I  have  seen  the 
little  fishes  {tesserae  baptismales)  with  a 
hole  pierced  through  them  for  the  purpose 


*  Rt.  Rev.  F.  S.  Chatard,  Bishop  of  Vincennes, 
and  formerly  Rector  of  the  American  College  at 
Rome,  Italy. 


44  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

of  carrying  them  about  the  person.  These 
little  fishes  {pisciculi)  and  other  objects 
were  undoubtedly  in  use  among  the  Chris- 
tians as  signs  of  their  faith."  This  gentle- 
man has  had  exceptional  advantages  for 
the  study  and  observation  of  the  subject, 
and  his  remarks  are  entitled  to  great 
weight. 

I  learn  from  another  high  authority  in 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church*  that,  "for 
some  time  after  the  Council  of  Trent,  com- 
munion certificates  were  used  in  several 
countries,  but  not  in  all."  He  could  not 
decide  whether  they  were  ever  made  of 
metal  or  not. 

Another  learned  clergymanf  of  the  same 
faith  writes  that  "  communion  certificates 
are,  even  now,  given  in  Bavaria  and  some 
other  countries."  He  also  states  that  "in 
Rome,  the    Chapter  of   St.  Peter's  at    one 


*  The  Rev.  Dr.  Philip  Grace,  of  Newport,  R.  I. 
f  Rev.  P.  M.  Abbelen,  Father  Superior  of  Notre 
Dame,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 


STOUT  OF  THE  TOKEN.  45 

time     issued     30,000    certificates    in    one 
year." 

A  priest  who  had  charge  of  a  large 
parish  in  Dundee,  Scotland,  for  eight  years, 
writes  that  he  "made  use  of  the  'tickets' 
for  communion  purposes.  They  were  given 
to  intending  communicants  on  Saturday, 
and  then  they  delivered  them  up  before 
going  to  the  altar  on  Sunday."  He  says 
they  were  Tokens  in  the  true  sense  of  the 
word.  Although  he  has  never  seen  any 
thing  but  cards  used,  he  thinks  that,  in 
years  past,  there  have  been  other  Tokens 
in  use.  He  "  feels  certain  that  Tokens  do 
not  belong  to  the  time  of  John  Knox,  but 
are  an  old  Catholic  tradition." 

On  the  other  hand,  a  learned  Cathedral 
Superior,  in  Scotland,*  is  equally  certain 
that  ''  the  Token  is  a  purely  Protestant 
institution.  The  imposing  of  any  outward 
barrier  to  communicate  is  out  of  harmony 


*Rt.   Rev.   Mgr.  Alexander  Munro,  D.D.,   Pro- 
vost of  Glasgow  Cathedral. 


46  STORY  OF  IHE  TOKEN. 

with  the  feeling  and  tradition  of  the 
Church."  At  the  same  time  he  concedes 
that,  for  local  considerations,  and  to  check 
abuses,  Tokens  have  been  utilized  from 
time  to  time.  In  his  own  diocese,  a  few 
years  ago,  they  were  used  and  used  wisely, 
for  more  than  twenty  years,  but  were  dis- 
carded as  soon  as  practicable.  He  also  says 
that  in  the  early  ages  of  the  Church,  there 
must  have  been  some  ready  way  of  admit- 
ting the  faithful  to  communion  and  exclud- 
ing enemies  from  the  Christian  assemblies. 
For  this  purpose,  something  correspond- 
ing to  a  Token  may  have  been  used. 

I  have  in  my  collection  this  card  Token 
so  long  used  in  the  Cathedral  Church  of 
G'asgow.  It  is  marked  with  the  Greek  word 
^vva^is  (a  convocation  or  gathering). 
The  term  is  usually  applied  to  devotional 
meetings.  A  familiar  expression  is,  Ad  sa- 
cram  synaxim  accedere.  ("To  go  to  Holy 
Communion.") 


IV. 

ENGLISH    TOKEN    USAGES. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  15th  century 
the  currency  of  England  was  in  the  worst 
possible  condition.  Not  only  had  the  coin- 
age been  debased  on  account  of  political 
necessity,  but  there  was  a  perfect  dearth 
of  small  change.  Billon,  or  black  money 
of  mere  nominal  value  was  brought  over 
from  the  English  mints  in  France.  Abbey 
Tokens  and  jetons  of  every  kind  passed 
for  fractional  parts  of  a  penny,  no  matter 
whether  they  had  been  struck  for  sacred 
or  secular  purposes.  The  tesserae  sacrae 
which  served  as  passports  for  the  inferior 
clergy  travelling  from  one  monastery  to 
another,  the  "medals  of  presence"  and 
other  church  and  communion  pieces  passed 
indiscriminately  with  the  leaden  medalets 
of  the  tavern-keeper  and  the  tradesman.  As 
many  as  3,000  varieties  of  this  latter  class  are 


48  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

known,  and  they  continued  in  circulation 
till  the  close  of  the   17th  century. 

About  A.  D.  T500,  Erasmus  speaks  of 
the  plumbos  Angliae,  and  they  are  often 
casually  referred  to  as  being  used  by  com- 
municants and  for  sacramental  purposes.* 

In  the  time  of  Queen  Mary  of  England, 
1554-55,  Cardinal  Pole  appointed  every 
parish  priest  to  keep  account  of  all  those 
who,  on  a  stated  day,  had  not  attended  to 
their  communion  duty.  And  again,  in  1557, 
he  calls  for  the  names  of  those  who  had  not 
been  reconciled  to  the  Church. 

The  Token-Books  of  St.  Saviour's 
Church,  Southwark,  are  still  in  existence 
and  form  a  complete  directory  of  all  the 
streets,  lanes,  and  alleys  in  the  parish. 
Every  parishioner's  name  is  carefully  en- 
tered   at  his  residence  and  the  list   must 


*  John  Yonge  Akerman,  Tradesmen  s  Tokens. 
London,   1849.     p.  6. 

Stanley  Lane  Poole,  Coins  and  Medals.  London, 
1885.  p.  128. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  49 

have  been  compiled  from  a  domiciliary- 
visitation.  ^  It  would  appear  as  if  all  were 
virtually  compelled  to  attend  communion, 
and  conformity  was  insisted  on. 

Recusants  are  duly  marked  and  some- 
times commented  on.  One  is  noted  as  an 
Anabaptist  and  "  had  no  Token  last  year." 
Another  is  accounted  for  as  '*  a  Brownist," 
and  a  third  calls  out  the  pointed  remark, 
"  Mr.  Swetson  knows  who  paid  no  Token." 
Edward  Matthew  is  gibbeted  as  "  a  very 
badd  {sic)  husband  and  cometh  not  to  the 
communion." 

These  books  were  written  up  annually, 
and  extend  from  1559  to  1630,  covering 
nearly  all  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  time,  the 
entire  reign  of  James  I.,  and  the  first  five 
years  of  Charles  I.  In  1596  the  lists  show 
2,200    Tokens     sold     at    two-pence    each. 


*  The  names  of  many  leading  actors  of  the 
Shakesperean  era  are  found  in  these  books.  Among 
others,  sixteen  of  those  whose  names  are  printed  in 
the  first  edition  of  his  plays. 


50  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

and  in  1620  nearly  2,000  at  threepence 
each.* 

In  1658,  the  parish  accounts  of  Newbury, 
Berkshire,  are  charged  with  300  Tokens  at 
three  shillings  and  sixpence.  A  later 
Token  of  this  parish  is  still  to  be  met  with. 
Rev.  Joseph  Sayer  was  the  incumbent  from 
1666  to  1674.  His  Tokens  are  marked 
with  a  Bible,  and  the  inscription,  "  Joseph 
Sayer,  Rector  of  Newbury." 

In  1659  the  parish  records  of  Henley-on- 
Thames,  Oxfordshire,  make  mention  of 
Tokens  being  in  use  and  designate  them 
as  "communion  halfpence." 

The  church  register  of  St.  Peter's  of 
Mancroft,  Norwich,  also  records  the  use  of 
Tokens  and  gives  minute  details  of  their 
cost   and  manufacture,   as    well  as  of  the 


*Token- House-Yard  is  a  cul-de-sac  off  Throg- 
morton  street,  near  the  Bank  of  England.  It  may 
be  that  its  name  is  more  intimately  connected  with 
the  Tradesmen's  Tokens  of  the  15th,  i6th  and  17th 
centuries  than  with  the  Communion  Tokens  spoken 
of  in  the  text. 


STORY  OF  THE   TOKEN,  51 

communion    dues    collected  by   means  of 
them.* 


*  In  the  parish  account    book    of    St.    Peter's    of 
Mancroft,  Norwich,  are  the  following  entries  : 

A.  D.  L.    s.  D. 

1632.  Paid  for  moulds  to  cast  tokens   in  o     4     o 

1633.  Paid  to  Norman  for  leaden  tokens  006 
1640.  Paid   to   Thomas  Turner  for  300 

tokens o     3     o 

1644.     Paid  to    Howard,  the  plomer,  for 

tokens o     o     o 

1659.      Paid  to  Goodman  Tenton  for  cut- 
ting a  mould  for  the  tokens.  ...     ©     2     6 
1680.     Paid  to  the  Widow  Harwood  for 

lead  tokens 050 

1683.     Paid  Mrs.  Harrold  for  new  tokens     010 
1684  <«  i<  .<  010 

1686.     Paid  for  tokens  bought,  and  herbs 

for  the  church o     2     6 

The  following  is  an  account  of  the  receivings,  by 
tokens,  of  the  communicants  at  various  times  : 

A.    D.  L.    S.    D. 

1682.  Paid  for  bread    aud  wine,    more 

than  received  by  tokens o  19       I 

1683.  Paid  for    bread    and  wine,  more 

than  received  by  tokens o  15        I 

1685.  Received  by  tokens 3     o  11^ 

1686.  Received    by    tokens    at    eleven 

communions  in  the  said  year..     318       6 

1687.  Received  by  tokens  at   ten  com- 

munions in  the  said  year 3     2       3 

The  last  similar  entry  in  the  book  is  in  1696. 
Akerman,     Trades?}ien's    Tokens,  London,  1849. 
PP-  4,  5. 


52  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

In  the  diocese  of  Durham  the  clergy 
farmed  out  their  Easter  and  other  dues. 
From  this  custom  grew  considerable  scan- 
dal, and  a  consequent  trial  for  the  irreve- 
rent disturbing  of  public  worship  on  Palm 
Sunday,  Good  Friday  and  Easter.  It  is 
given  in  evidence  that  one  John  Richardson 
"  tooke  Easter  reckeninges  of  such  people 
as  received  the  holie  communion,  and  there 
accompted  with  them,  and  delivered  and 
received  Tokens  of  them,  as  is  used  in  other 
parishes."  Another  witness  tells  how 
Richardson's  deputies  usually  wrote  down 
"the  names  of  all  the  then  communicants, 
not  householders,  and  att  the  tyme  of 
writinge  there  names,  dow  deliver  them 
Tokens,  which  in  the  tyme  of  the  adminis- 
tracion  of  the  sacrament,  they  call  for 
againe,  to  the  end  that  they  may  knowe 
whoe  doe  pay  the  Easter  offerings  and  whoe 
doe  not." 

Still  another  witness  states  that  he  had 
seen  "  Richardson  at  Easter  tyme  goe  upp 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  53 

and  downe  amongst  the  communicants,  and 
in  time  of  receiving  the  holie  communion 
receive  of  some  communicants  some  mon- 
ies, and  take  in  certain  leade  Tokens  (as 
the  use  of  the  parish  is)  from  such  as  had 
formerlie  by  there  maisters  reckoned  and 
payed."  And  that  he  had  ''scene  all  whoe 
were  under-farmors  to  Richardson  since 
that  tyme  doe  the  like."* 

The  Presbyterian  Church  never  exacted 
such  dues  and  "  never  sold  her  sacraments." 

The  following  extract  from  a  work  on 
Commercial  Tokens  also  refers  to  the  an- 
tiquity of  Church  Tokens. 

"(No.)  13 1 9.  THE  COMOMON  (Commun- 
ion)  cvpp — Sacramental  cup  and  cover. — 
Rev.  I.  H.  s,  A  cross,  Calvary,  rising  from 
the  horizontal  bar  of  the  h  ;  and  seven 
stars  below." 


^  Acts  of  the  High  Conufiission  Cozirt  within  the 
Diocese  of  Durham.     Surtees   Society,  pp.  82-100. 

For  most  of  the  above  English  facts  I  am  in- 
debted to  Notes  and  Queries,  1878-79. 


54  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN 

^'Possibly  this  piece  has  reference  to  what 
is  occasionally  noticed  in  church-wardens* 
accounts  as  token  money.  James  the  First, 
by  patent  dated  May  i8,  1609,  granted  to 
Francis  Philips  and  Richard  More,  the 
rectory  and  church  of  St.  Sepulchre  in  the 
city  of  London,  with  all  its  rights,  mem- 
bers and  appurtenances  ;  '  also  all  tithes  and 
profits  of  the  servants  and  apprentices,  and 
strangers  {extraneorum),  and  other  parish- 
ioners, commonly  called  the  token  money^ 
paid  or  payable  at  Easter  time.'  The  cus- 
tom, it  is  said,  prevailed  long  before  the 
period  of  the  Reformation,  when  each  pa- 
rishioner was  'houselled,'  that  is,  received 
the  sacrament  and  was  shrived  ;  though  the 
practice  has  long  since  been  commuted  by 
the  payment  of  a  certain  sum."* 


*  Jacob  Henry  Burn.  "  Descriptive  Catalogue 
of  the  London  leaders',  Tavern  and  Coffee-House 
Tokens  current  in  the  Seventeenth  Century.""  2nd 
edition,  London,  1855.  page  265. 


SUBSTITUTES    FOR    TOKENS. 

The  English  Episcopal  service  contains 
the  following  rubric  which  evidently  takes 
the  place  of  the  Token,  as  a  check 
on  unworthy  communicating.  "  So  many 
as  intend  to  be  partakers  of  the  Holy  Com- 
munion, shall  signify  their  names  to  the 
Curate  at  least  some  time  the  day  before." 
The  Curate  is  further  enjoined  to  watch 
for  any  that  may  be  evil  livers,  or  that 
cherish  malice  and  hatred  against  their 
neighbors,  &c.,  &c.  He  is  to  exclude  all 
such,  "not  suffering  them  to'  be  partakers 
of  the  Lord's  Table,  until  he  knows  them 
to  be  reconciled." 

At  the  risk  of  introducing  extraneous 
matter,  I  quote  from  the  rubric  providing 
for  the  administration  of  the  sacrament 
which  directs  that  the  minister  shall  first 
partake  of  the  bread  and  wine,  ''then   he 


56  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

shall  deliver  the  same  to  the  bishops, 
priests  and  deacons  in  like  manner,  (if  any 
be  present)  and  after  that  to  the  people 
also  in  order."  In  some  English  country 
parishes,  the  last  two  words  have  been 
subjected  to  a  curious  interpretation.  The 
squire,  or  leading  man  in  the  parish,  com- 
municated first.  Then  the  subordinate 
gentry,  then  the  people  at  large  according 
to  their  station  in  life.  The  scale  of 
precedence  was  as  well  defined  as  the 
entree  to  a  diplomatic  dinner. 

In  this  connection  I  recall  an  incident 
which  the  narrator  tells  he  saw  about 
thirty  years  ago.  He  was  visiting  in  York- 
shire where  the  squire  of  the  parish  had 
lately  died.  There  was  communion  service 
the  first  Sunday  after  the  funeral.  When 
the  time  came  for  communicating,  the  con- 
gregation kept  their  seats  till  the  dead 
man's  personal  servant  opened  the  door  of 
the  empty  pew,  and  went  through  the  form 
of  letting  some  one  pass  out.     After  this 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  57 

ghostly  pantomine  had  been  enacted,  the 
sacramental   services   proceeded  as  usual.* 

An  Episcopal  dignitary  in  Brechin, 
Scotland,  states  that  "it  was  formerly  the 
custom,  on  the  Sunday  before  Holy 
Communion,  to  receive  the  names  of  those 
intending  to  communicate  and  note  them 
down  as  they  passed  out  of  church.  This 
was  continued  for  a  good  while. "f 

I  have  at  present  in  my  possession, 
drawings  of  a  considerable  number  of 
Tokens  belonging  to  Episcopal  churches, 
mostly  in  the  north  of  Scotland.  One 
specimen  is  marked  "-{-  S.  Andrew's 
(Episcopal)  Chapel,  Glasgow,  1750." 
Nearly  all  of  them  pertain  to  the  17th  and 
i8th  centuries. 

I  have  in  my  collection,  a  modern  card 
on  which  is  printed,  "  All  Saints'  Church, 
Edinburgh,"  and  "  Easter  Communion." 
This  seems    conclusive  evidence  that  the 


*  Notes  and  Queries,  Jan'y,  i8go. 

f  Very  Rev.  James  Crabb,  Dean  of  the  diocese. 


58  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

Episcopal  Church  has  not  altogether 
abandoned  the  use  of  communion  checks 
and  Tokens. 

I  have  an  old  volume  (London,  1691) 
entitled  "  Letters  from  Italy."  The  writer 
travelled  much  in  company  with  priests 
and,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  time 
and  the  country,  generally  lodged  at 
monasteries  and  religious  houses.  Again 
and  again  he  incidentally  refers  to  expe- 
riences with  spurious  priests  and  pilgrims. 
These  vagabond  devotees  journeyed  with 
counterfeit  letters  of  credence  and  false 
seals  and  certificates.  "  Letters  of  obedi- 
ence "  were  palmed  off  for  "letters  of 
devotion."  Forged  letters  of  pilgrimage 
with  the  broad  seal  of  the  archbishop 
could  be  bought  at  reasonable  rates.  The 
whole  narrative  shows  the  serious  imposi- 
tions which  the  early  Church  must  have 
had  to  contend  with  and  which  her  officers 
strove  to  avert  by  their  rigid  system  of 
checks  and  safeguards. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  59 

I  cannot  help  taking  all  these  dif- 
ferent items  as  strong  proofs  of  the 
continuous  antiquity  and  universality  of 
the  Token. 


VI. 

MIGRATION     OF    TOKENS. 

I  also  find  that  even  the  modern  Token 
has  done  duty  as  a  voucher  for  member- 
ship or  a  certificate  of  dismission.  It  was 
at  one  time  a  common  practice  in  Scotland 
for  members  who  were  leaving  one  parish 
for  another,  to  carry  with  them  the  Token 
of  their  home  church  as  an  introduction  to 
their  new  brethren.  In  this  way,  Tokens 
are  often  found  in  Scotland,  far  from  the 
church  which  originally  issued  them.  I 
have  picked  up  Scotch  Tokens,  both  in  the 
United  States  and  in  Canada,  which  had 
been  brought  across  the  sea  in  place  of 
regular  church  letters. 

I  possess  one  notable  spec- 
imen of  the  transmigration 
of  Tokens.  It  is  marked 
"A.    C.     D.,*     1788."      It 


A.  C.  D.,"  i.  e.  Associate  Congregation,  Dairy. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  61 

originally  comes  from  Dairy,  Scotland. 
In  1822,  the  Rev,  Dr.  Gemmill,  from 
Dairy,  Ayrshire,  organized  a  church  in 
Lanark,  Ontario.  He  seems  to  have 
brought  his  full  equipment  with  him,  and 
the  Dairy  Token  still  performs  communion 
duty  in  the  far-off  Canadian  village. 

I  am  indebted  to  Dr.  Gemmill's  im- 
ported Token-bag,  for  another  rare  and  in- 
teresting   specimen,   almost    or    altogether 

_      unknown  in  Scotland.     It    is 

marked  "  T.  S.  A."  Rev. 
Samuel  Arnot  was  ordained 
at  Tongland,  Kirkcudbright- 
shire, in  166 1.  Casting  in 
his  lot  with  the  Covenanters,  he  was 
expelled  by  the  Government,  in  1662. 
Warrants  were  issued  for  his  apprehension 
and  a  price  set  on  his  head.  He  died, 
while  under  hiding,  in  t688,  just  before 
the  Revolution  brought  deliverance  to 
him,  and  all  such  persecuted  wanderers. 
At   this  late   day,  his  Token    is   unveiled 


[mil 


62  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

in  Canada,  a  silent  witness  to  his  faith- 
fulness. 

I  have  another  migratory  Token  from 
Antigonish,  Nova  Scotia.  Rev.  Thomas 
Trotter  came  there  from  Johns  Haven, 
Scotland,  bringing  with  him  his  old  Tokens 
marked  "  Asso.  Con.  Johns  Haven." 
"Rev'd  Thos.  Trotter,  1808."  These  To- 
kens were  used  at  Antigonish  as  long  as 
the  custom  prevailed  in  that  Church. 

The  above  mention  of  Dr.  Gemmill  sug- 
gests one  of  those  controversies  which  have 
been  waged  concerning  every  rite  and  ce- 
remony pertaining  to  the  observance  of 
the  communion.  This  special  contention 
is  known  as  the  "  lifting  of  the  elements." 
Is  the  "  taking"  of  the  bread  and  the  cup 
to  be  regarded  as  a  *'  sacramental  action  ?" 
If  it  is  so,  the  "  lifters  "  held  that,  when 
the  minister  says  "  our  Lord  took  bread," 
he  should  take  bread  also  and  hold  it  in 
his  hand  while  he  gives  thanks,  according 
to  the  example   of  our   Lord.     The  other 


STORT  OF  THE  TOKEN.  63 

party  opposed  this  as  being  ritualistic  and, 
virtually,  a  revival  of  the  elevation  of  the 
host.  The  dispute  at  one  time  was  very 
bitter.  The  synod  finally  permitted  min- 
isters and  congregations  to  settle  it  as  they 
pleased. 

Because  "lifting  "  was  not  enjoined,  Dr. 
Gemmill  and  a  few  other  clergymen  left 
the  Church  and  tried  to  form  a  separate 
Presbytery.  The  effort  was  not  successful. 
Their  adherents  dwindled  away  and  Dr. 
Gemmill  emigrated  to  Canada.  The  scat- 
tered members  were  long  known  as  "  the 
Breadlifters." 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  English  Church 
does  not  "lift,"  while  the  Episcopal  Church 
of  Scotland  adheres  to  the  practice. 

Dr.  Gemmill  was  in  many  respects,  a  re- 
markable man.  Having  struggled  through 
his  college  classes,  ?fiore  Scottico,  he  took 
charge  of  the  little  Secession  Church  at 
Dairy.  The  stipend  promised,  but  seldom 
paid,  was  literally  "forty   pounds  a   year." 


64  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

To  supplement  the  deficiency,  he  took  up 
the  study  of  medicine.  For  three  sessions, 
he  was  accustomed  to  walk  to  Glasgow 
(25  miles)  every  Monday  morning,  attend 
his  classes  for  the  week,  walk  back  on  Sat- 
urday and  preach  twice  on  the  Sabbath. 
At  the  close  of  his  three  years'  course, 
her  eceived  his  degree  of  M.  D.  with 
honors. 

He  also  picked  up  a  knowledge  of  print- 
ing, and  later  established  a  small  print- 
ing office  at  Beith,  five  miles  from  Dairy. 
Then  came  another  course  of  Monday  and 
Saturday  walking,  and  Sabbath  preaching. 
Besides  commercial  and  legal  work,  his 
press  issued  much  strong  theology  which 
was  industriously  circulated  in  the  district. 
All  would  not  do  however,  and  after  con- 
tinuing the  struggle  for  thirty-four  years 
and  a  half,  he  gave  up  his  charge,  and 
died  in  Canada,  23  years  after.  Verily, 
"  there  were  giants  in  the  earth,  in  those 
days." 


STORY  OF  TEE   TOKEN.  65 

There  is  another  matter  of  contention 
which  may  be  noticed  here.  Should  the 
communion  be  partaken  of  with  the  bare, 
or  the  gloved  hand  ?  This  controversy  dates 
back  to  the  second  century.  It  was  finally 
decided  that  the  men  should  receive  the 
sacrament  with  clean  uncovered  hands, 
while  the  women  were  required  to  bring  a 
fair  linen  cloth  in  which  the  bread  was 
deposited  by  the  priest.  These  rules  passed 
away  when  the  custom  was  introduced  of 
putting  the  wafer  into  the  mouth  of  the 
communicant. 

I  believe  the  matter  is  still  somewhat 
unsettled  among  the  Episcopalians.  I  know 
of  no  rubric  or  written  law  pertaining  to  it, 
though  I  find  both  practices  supported  by 
different  individuals.  It  may  be  that  the 
rule  varies  in  the  English  and  the  American 
churches.  The  use  of  the  bare  hand  seems 
to  preponderate. 

As  I  have  before  remarked,  there  is  no 
custom    connected    with    the    communion 


66  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

that  has  not  been  a  fruitful  source  of  con- 
troversy. The  necessity  for  washing  the 
feet  of  the  communicants;  the  upper  room; 
the  evening  celebration;  the  leavened  or 
unleavened  bread  ;  the  fermented  or  un- 
fermented  wine;  these,  and  many  other 
minor  observances  have  all  been  argued 
and  debated,  again  and  again,  to  little  pur- 
pose and  less  edification. 

Many  usages  which  cannot  be  styled 
any  thing  but  superstitions,  have  also  at- 
tached themselves  to  the  ordinance  in  dif- 
ferent ages  of  the  Church.  The  consecrated 
elements  have  not  always  been  treated  with 
sacramental  reverence.*  The  bread  was 
sometimes  abstracted  for  various  improper 
or  irreverent  purposes.  We  find  the  mag- 
nates of  the  Church  mingling  the  eucha- 
ristic  wine  with  ink,  so  as  to  give  special 
strength  and  validity  to  important  docu- 
ments. 


*  Dicty.  of  Christ.  Antiq.  pp.  416,  417. 


ST0R7  OF  TUB  TOKEN.  67 

Theophanes,  who  wrote  a  history  of  the 
Church,  from  A.  D.  277  to  811,  tells  how 
the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  having  re- 
nounced the  heresy  he  had  adopted,  and 
again  relapsed,  was  excommunicated  by 
Pope  Theodorus  I.,  A.  D.,  645.  The 
ink  which  signed  his  sentence  was  mixed 
with  die  sa?ig  de  Jesus  Christ.  ("  The 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ.")  The  General 
Council  of  Constantinople,  A.  D.  869- 
870,  condemned  the  doctrines  of  Photius, 
and  the  Patriarch  Ignatius  signed  the 
decree,  "  dipping  his  stylus  in  the  blood 
of  the  Saviour."  {^Dans  le  sang  du 
Sauveur.)  Claude  Fleury,  Hist.  Eccl. 
Liv.    51. 

At  one  time  there  was  a  custom  of 
placing  the  unconsecrated  elements  on 
the  credence  table,  when  the  king  was 
about  to  communicate.  It  was  then 
the  duty  of  a  trusted  ofificial  publicly 
to  taste  the  bread  and  wine  for  fear 
they    had    been    mixed    with    poison,    and 


68  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

the  monarch's  life  might  thus  be  en- 
dangered.* 

Permit  me  here  to  offer  my  excuses  for 
having,  in  these  pages,  strayed  away  so 
often  from  the  Tokens  proper,  and  taken 
up  with  other  sacramental  incidents. 

My  research  has  led  me  into  this  class 
of  reading  and  I  have  noted  many  collate- 
ral circumstances  bearing  on  communion 
usages.  Some  of  them  may  be  as  unfa- 
miliar to  my  readers  as  they  were  to  me. 
I  trust  they  will  not  be  considered  entirely 
out  of  place  in  connection  with  my  main 
topic. 

A  friend  of  mine  owns  a  silver  medal 
which  is  interesting  for  its  sacramental 
devices.  If  it  was  meant  to  be  used  as  a 
Token,  it  was  probably  not  for  members 
of  the  Church,  but  was  given  to  a  priest 
when  on  his  travels,  as  an  introduction  to 
his  brethren  in   orders.     It   is  one  of  the 


Notes  and  Queries,  July,  1856. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN,  69 

many  allegorical  and  moral  pieces  struck 
by  Henry  Julius,  Duke  of  Brunswick  and 
Luneburg.  Its  date  is  1613,  the  year  of 
Duke  Henry's  death.  The  chalice  it  is 
stamped  with  is  almost  identical  with  that 
on  a  Scotch  Presbyterian  Token  of  1760. 

The  Latin  legend  is  decidedly  anti-Prot- 
estant, MirariNon  Rimari^  Sapientia  Vera 
Est.  The  communicant  is  thus  admonished 
that  ^'to  admire  and  not  enquire,  is  the  true 
wisdom."  The  cardinal  doctrine  of  tran- 
substantiation  is  prominently  brought 
before  the  devout  participant,  and  he  is 
taught  to  receive  the  great  dogma  of  his 
Church  in  the  most  submissive  spirit.* 

I  have  a  silver  coin  of  the  city  of  Cologne 
1730,  which  bears  on  its  obverse  the  arms 
of  the  city,  with  the  legend  Civit.  Colon. 
("  City  of  Cologne.")  On  the  reverse  is  a 
communion  cup  and  the  motto,  Signiun 
Senatori.     This   may    mean   the    Senator's 


*I  have  lately  acquired  an  excellent  specimen  of 
this  medal,  in  bronze. 


70  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

Token,  or  Elder's  Token.  On  the  edge  it 
reads  Bibite  Cum  Laetitia.  ("  Drink  ye  with 
gladness.") 

The  Augsburg  Confession  was  formally 
presented  to  the  Emperor  Charles,  June 
25th,  1530.  This  Cologne  piece  is  one  of 
those  German  anniversary  coins  so  fre- 
quently met  with.  It  was  struck  to  com- 
memorate the  second  centennial  of  the 
famous  confession.  Its  origin  may  be  more 
properly  civil  than  sacramental,  though  the 
words  on  the  rim  are  virtually  what  I  have 
heard  a  hundred  times  at  the  communion 
table  in  Scotland,  "  Eat,  O  friends  ;  drink, 
yea,  drink  abundantly,  O  beloved."  (Cant, 
v:  I.) 

A  writer  in  Notes  and  Queries,  March 
1 4th, 1 874,  states  that  the  "  liturgy  drawn  up 
for  the  Church  of  Scotland,  ^/W^  1635  (not 
later),  has  this  rubric  prefixed  to  the  order 
for  administration  of  Holy  Commun- 
ion : — '  So  many  as  intend  to  be  partakers 
of  the  Holy  Communion  shall  receive  there 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  71 

Tokins  {sic)  from  the  minister  the  night 
before.'  The  style  of  this  rubric  shows 
clearly  that  the  reference  was  to  an  estab- 
lished practice,  not  to  an  innovation.  In 
a  note  to  the  first  impression  of  this  book* 
the  editor  states  (it  existed  in  manuscript 
till  1871)  :  'The  use  of  Tokens  is  men- 
tioned very  soon  after  the  Reformation, 
and  it  has  ever  since  continued  in  the 
Church  of  Scotland.  They  have  always 
been  used  too,  in  the  Episcopal  congrega- 
tions of  old  standing  in  the  north  of 
Scotland.' " 

To  this  I  may  add  that  some  forty  years 
ago  they  were  brought  into  use  in  the  prin- 
cipal (at  that  time  I  suppose  the  only) 
Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Glasgow." 

I  believe  it  is  still  conniion  among 
the  fraternities  of  the  Romish  Church 
to    present    their   members  with  a  Token 


■^  This  work  was  published  in  1871,  as  "  Scottish 
Liturgies  of  the  Reign  of  James  VI."  Edited  by 
Rev.  Dr.  Sprott. 


73  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

on  the  occasion  of  their  first  com- 
munion. 

The  above  writer  goes  on  to  speak  of 
the  jealousy  existing  between  the  different 
orders  of  the  clergy,  as  to  whose  penitents 
should  be  admitted  to  communion,  which 
necessitated  the  use  of  distinguishing 
marks,  granted  to  those  who  were  entitled 
to  communicate. 

He  also  calls  attention  to  the  collection 
in  the  National  Library  at  Paris,  of  what 
are  termed  "Abbey  Tokens."  These  pieces 
are  usually  of  lead  or  pewter,  many  of 
them  stamped  with  the  cross  on  one  side 
and  on  the  reverse  with  various  other 
religious  symbols.  These  Tokens  are 
believed  by  antiquaries  to  have  been  given 
to  "frequenters  of  the  sacraments." 

I  have  a  bronze  piece  which  may  be  an 
Abbey  Token,  Obverse,  a  coat  of  arms 
with  supporters.  Reverse,  Saliit  de  Sat?it 
Pierre,  1733.  ('  Salvation  by  St.  Peter.") 
Another  of  my   medals   may  belong  in  the 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  73 

same  category.  Obv.,  A  very  artistic  head 
of  Christ.  Rev.,  Aimez-  Voiis  Les  Uns  Les 
Autres.  ("  Love  one  Another  ").  A  third 
piece  shows  an  open  hand  with  Wel- 
dcddigheyd  Catechismiis.  (  "Catechism  Be- 
nevolence.") This  last  is  perhaps  a  Bread 
Penny,  given  to  the  poor  who  came  for 
catechetical  instruction  on  Sundays.  Such 
pieces  could  be  exchanged  for  a  loaf  at  the 
baker's  shop. 

I  have  a  great  many  ecclesiastical  medals 
of  whose  history  and  significance  I  am 
totally  ignorant.  Others,  I  can  only 
guess  at. 

The  Festival  of  Fools  was  observed  in 
some  places,  as  late  as  the  seventeenth 
century.  The  Abbot  of  Misrule  held 
sovereign  sway  and  all  the  ceremonies  of 
the  Church  were  burlesqued  in  the 
most  profane  manner  while  the  saturnalia 
lasted. 

That  no  detail  might  be  omitted  they 
even    provided   imitations    of    the    Abbey 


74  ST0R7  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

Tokens,  stamped  with  sacrilegious  emblems 
and  blasphemous  mottoes.  Specimens 
of  these  are  still  to  be  met  with. 

Such  may  be  some  of  the  pieces  which 
I  own.  Looked  at  in  one  way,  you  see 
the  Sovereign  Pontiff  with  his  tiara.  Turn 
the  medal  upside  down  and  it  shows  the 
father  of  evil,  grinning  like  a  baboon. 
Ecclesia  Perversa  Tenet  Faciem  Diaboli. 
Or  the  staid  ecclesiastic  with  his  broad 
shovel-hat,  reverses  to  the  jabbering 
mountebank  with  his  cap  and  bells. 
Sapientes  Aliquando  Siulti. 

In  modern,  as  in  ancient  times,  the 
use  of  Tokens  has  not  been  confined  to 
religious  organizations.  Wherever  the 
"  discipline  of  the  secret "  was  deemed 
necessary  for  the  protection  of  mysti- 
cism, some  sure  and  convenient  form 
of  Token  was  adopted.  The  Rosicrucians 
are  supposed  to  have  had  appropriate 
symbols  for  distinguishing  the  hidden 
brethren. 


STORY  OF  THE   TOKEN.  75 

In  the  lodges  of  Free  Masonry,  the 
Mark  Master  Mason  of  to-day  selects  a 
permanent  device  for  his  "  Mark,"  which 
forthwith  becomes  substantially  the  same 
thing  as  the  Tessera  Hospitalis  of  the 
ancient  Romans. 


VII. 

ANTIQUITY    OF    TOKENS. 

I  have  already  referred  to  the  Eleusin- 
ian  and  kindred  mysteries,  and  the  Tesse?'CB 
which  were  given  as  vouchers  to  the 
{enoTtTai)  fully  initiated.  These  oath- 
bound  brotherhoods  are  of  the  very  high- 
est antiquity  and  seem  to  have  preserved 
a  knowledge  of  the  great  First  Power,  the 
one  and  invisible  God,  the  creator,  gov- 
ernor and  preserver  of  all  things.  It 
appears  to  be  perfectly  certain  that  these 
glimmerings  of  divine  truth  first  took  an 
organized  form  in  C'entral  Asia,  the  cradle 
of  the  human  race.  As  secret  societies, 
they  existed  among  the  Egyptians  long 
before  the  time  of  Moses. 

The  doctrines  they  taught  were  highly 
esteemed  and  religiously  studied  by  the 
philosophers  of  Greece.  Their  trans- 
mission   to     the    same    class    among    the 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  77 

Romans  followed  as  a  matter  of  course. 
They  were  still  carefully  shrouded  in 
secrecy  and  held   in  profound   veneration. 

It  is  quite  true  that,  as  the  pagan 
mythology  became  more  and  more  cor- 
rupt, the  practices  and  teachings  of  the 
mysteries  also  degenerated.  Still,  the 
Christian  Fathers  did  not  always  disdain 
to  refer  to  them  and  to  accord  them  a  cer- 
tain measure  of  respect,  as  "  marking 
rather  the  nature  of  things,  than  the 
nature  of  the  Gods."* 

Eusebius,  quoting  from  a  contemporary, 
gives  some  explanation  of  their  peculiar 
symbols.  The  enlightened  members  {illuvi- 
inatt)  believed  that  God,  being  the  principle 
of  light,  dwelt  in  the  midst  of  a  fire  so 
subtile  that  he  must  always  be  invisible  to 
the  eyes  of  those  who  are  clogged  with 
mortality.  To  all  such,  his  most  striking 
emblems     were      transparent    substances, 

*  M.   Ouvaroff.     Mysteries  of  Eleiisis.     London, 
1817,  p.  61. 


78  STORT  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

crystal,  precious  stones,  ivory  and  parian 
marble.  Gold  was  the  chosen  symbol  of 
his  purity,  as  gold  cannot  be  permanently- 
dimmed.  A  black  stone  was  adopted  as 
the  sign  of  the  mvisibility  of  the  divine 
essence.* 

These  being  the  Tokens  used  by  and 
between  those  "  brethren  of  the  mystic 
tie,"  they  readily  suggest  the  Urim  and 
Thummim  ("light  and  perfection")  of  the 
Jewish  high  priest  and  the  white  stone 
promised  as  a  mark  of  distinction  by  St. 
John  in  the  Apocalypse.  Then  come 
the  gems  and  tablets  of  precious  metal 
used  by  the  early  believers,  followed  by 
the  leaden  Tokens  of  the  Reformation 
Churches. 


*Ouvaroff,  pp.  6i,  62. 


VIII. 

TOKENS    IN    THE    EARLY    PROTESTANT 
RECORDS. 

The  early  Reformed  Confessions  make 
frequent  use  of  the  generic  words  for 
Communion  Tokens  {tesserae  and  viereaii-x) 
and  invariably  apply  them  to  the  sacra- 
ments of  the  Church.  The  First  Helvetic 
Confession,  1536,  states  emphatically  : — 
asserimus  sacrainenta  non  solum  tesseras 
qucedam  societatis  Christiance,  sed  et  gratiae 
divina  symbola  esse.  (''  We  assert  that  the 
sacraments  are  not  merely  Tokens  of 
Christian  organizations,  but  they  are  also 
symbols  of  divine  grace.") 

The  French  Confession  of  Faith,  1559, 
Art.  34,  states:  Nous  croyoiis  que  les  sacre- 
uients  sont  ajoufes  a  la  Parole  pour  plus 
ample  co?ifir7nation^  afin  de  nous  etre  gages  et 
marreaux  de  la  grace  de  Dieu.  (''  We  believe 
that  the  sacraments  are  joined  to  the  Word 


80  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

for  more  complete  confirmation,  that  they 
may  be  to  us  pledges  and  Tokens  of  the 
grace  of  God.") 

The  Formula  of  Concord,  compiled  by 
the  divines  adhering  to  the  Augsburg 
Confession,  1576,  "  rejects  and  condemns" 
the  doctrine:  Panem  et  vinum  in  Cxna 
Domini  tantummodo  symbola  seu  tesseras 
esse,  quibus  Christiani  ?nutuo  sese  agnoscant. 
("That  the  bread  and  wine  in  the  Lord's 
Supper  are  merely  symbols  or  Tokens  by 
which  Christians  mutually  recognize  each 
other.") 

The  French  word  niarreau  or  inh'eau,  is 
of  considerable  antiquity  and  has  several 
varieties  of  spelling.  A  plausible  deri- 
vation of  the  term  is  from  the  Latin 
verb  mereri,  "  to  deserve,"  as  Tokens 
(tnereaux)  were  only  given  to  those 
who  were  found  worthy.  The  Augsburg 
Confession,  1530,  speaking  of  the  Com- 
munion, says  :  Nulli  enim  ad/niituntur, 
nisi    aniea    explorati.      ( "  For    none    are 


STORY  OF  THE   TOKEN.  81 

admitted,  except  they  are  thoroughly 
examined  beforehand.") 

Per  contra:  St.  Andrews  Kirk  Session 
Records,  October  25,  1565,  notes  the  case 
of  a  priest  who  had  conformed  to  the  new 
order  of  things  and  afterwards  returned  to 
Popery.  "  The  which  day,  John  Morrison, 
after  his  recantation  admitted  reader  in 
Muthil,  delated  and  summoned  by  the 
superintendent's  letters  to  underlie  dis- 
cipline, for  administration  of  baptism  and 
marriage  after  the  Papistical  fashion,  and 
that  indifferently  to  all  persons.  And 
also  for  profanation  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  abusing  the  same  in  private  houses, 
as  also  in  the  kirkyard,  about  the  kirk- 
yard  dykes,  and  receiving  from  each  per- 
son that  communicated  one  penny.  And 
in  special  upon  Pasche  day  last  was,  in 
the  house  of  John  Graham,  he  adminis- 
tered it  to  one  hundred  persons." 

I  give  modern  spelling  of  the  above  and 
the  italics  are  mine. 


82  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

The  First  Book  of  Discipline  was 
adopted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Kirk  of  Scotland  in  156 1.  The  following 
extracts  from  it  show  how  strongly  the 
early  Reformers  insisted  on  the  instruc- 
tion and  intelligence  of  their  commun- 
icants : 

"All  ministers  must  be  admonished  to  be 
more  careful  to  instruct  the  ignorant  than 
ready  to  satisfy  their  appetites,  and  more 
sharp  in  examination  than  indulgent,  in 
admitting  to  that  great  mystery  such  as  be 
ignorant  of  the  use  and  virtue  of  the 
same  :  and  therefore  we  think  that  the 
administration  of  the  Table  ought  nev^er 
to  be,  without  that  examination  pass 
before,  especially  of  those  whose  knowl- 
edge is  suspect.  We  think  that  none  are 
apt  to  be  admitted  to  that  mystery  who 
cannot  formally  say  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the 
Articles  of  the  Belief,  and  declare  the  sum 
of  the  Law.  Every  master  of  household 
must  be  commanded   either  to  instruct,  or 


STORY  OF  THE   TOKEN.  83 

else  cause  to  be  instructed,  his  children, 
servants  and  family  in  the  principles  of  the 
Christian  religion  :  without  the  knowledge 
whereof  ought  none  to  he  admitted  to  the 
Table  of  the  Lord  Jesus:  for  such  as  be  so 
dull  and  so  ignorant  that  they  can  neither 
try  themselves,  neither  yet  know  the 
dignity  and  mystery  of  that  action,  can 
not  eat  and  drink  of  that  Table  worthily. 
And  therefore  of  necessity  we  judge  it, 
that  every  year  at  least,  public  examination 
be  had  by  the  ministers  and  elders  of  the 
knowledge  of  every  person  within  the 
Church,  to  wit,  that  every  master  and  mis- 
tress of  household  come  themselves  and 
their  family,  so  many  as  may  be  come  to 
maturity,  before  the  ministers  and  elders, 
to  give  confession  of  their  faith,  and  to 
answer  to  such  chief  points  of  religion  as 
the  ministers  shall  demand.  Such  as  be 
ignorant  in  the  Articles  of  their  Faith, 
understand  not,  nor  can  not  rehearse  the 
Commandments  of  God;  know  not  how  to 


84  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

pray;  neither  whereinto  their  righteousness 
consists,  ought  not  to  be  admitted  to  the 
Lord's  Table. '"^ 


*St.    Andrews'  Kirk   Session  Register,    pp.  196, 
197.      I  have  again  modernized  the  spelling. 


IX. 


TOKENS    IN    FRANCE. 


In  the  annals  of  the  French  Huguenot 
Church,  I  find  communion  Tokens  (w^zr- 
reaux)  first  mentioned  in  1559.  In  the  rec- 
ords of  the  Presb5^tery  of  Geneva,  1605,  it  is 
stated,  *'  it  would  be  an  excellent  thing 
that,  according  to  the  custom  of  the 
French  churches,  we  should  have  Tokens." 
And  again  in  1613,  "  it  would  be  proper  to 
have  Tokens  both  in  the  city  and  country 
churches."* 

The  session  record  of  Negrepelisse, 
April  2ist,  1626,  contains  minute  directions 
for  the  observance  of  the  coming  com- 
munion.      Each    Elder  is    designated    by 


'^Bulletin  de  la  Socie'te  de  V Histoire  du  Protes- 
tantisme  Fra7igais,  2e  Anne'e.  Paris,  1S54,  p.  13  et 
seq. 

Rev.  Ch.  L.  Frossard,  IViimis/natique  Protestante, 
Paris,  1S72,  pp.  4,  5. 


86  STORY  OF  TUB  TOKEN. 

name  for  his  special  duty,  and  Elder 
Lebrueys  is  detailed  to  take  charge  of  the 
plate  (or  tray)  for  the  Tokens. 

The  Church  Session  of  Melle,  1672, 
gives  formal  notice  to  all  intending  com- 
municants that  they  must  procure  Tokens 
in  good  season  so  as  to  avoid  confusion  at 
the  sacramental  tables,  and  directs  the 
Elders  to  distribute  Tokens  to  the  members 
in  their  respective  districts. 

Rev.  Ch.  L.  Frossard  of  Paris,  France, 
has  published  a  description  of  forty-one 
Tokens  used  by  the  Reformed  Commu- 
nion. The  most  artistic  in  design  and 
execution  appear  to  be  the  oldest.  Judging 
from  the  style  of  workmanship,  they  prob- 
ably belong  to  the  sixteenth  century. 

Twelve  of  Mons.  Frossard's  Tokens  bear 
dates  ranging  from  1761  to  1821.  Some 
of  the  devices  and  legends  are  exceedingly 
suggestive.  AV  crains  point  petit  troupeau, 
("  Fear  not  little  flock,")  and  Mes  brebis 
entende?it    ma    voix   et   me    suivent,     ("  My 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  .  87 

sheep  know  my  voice  and  follow  me,") 
appear  to  be  favorite  mottoes  on  the  older 
specimens  and  are  singularly  applicable  to 
those  "Churches  of  the  Desert."  The 
Token  of  the  church  of  Celles-sur  Belle 
(Poitou)  is  noted  as  being  still  in  use. 

My  best  endeavors  have  failed  to  secure 
a  specimen  of  the  pieces  described  by  Rev. 
Mons.  Frossard.  The  following  is  a  copy 
of  a  card-Token  sent  to  me  as  being  now 
used  by  a  French  Protestant  Church  in 
Montreal. 

EGLISE  PRESBYTERIENHE  St.  JEAN. 

RUSSELL  HALL,   1876,   RUE  STE.   CATHERINE. 

Le  service  divin  est  celebre  tous  les  Di- 
manches  matins  an  heures  et  le  soir  a  7 
heures. 

Ecole  du  Dimanche  el  classe  biblique 
tous  les  Dimanches  a  3  heures. 

Reunion  de  prieres  le  mercredi  soir  a 
8    heures,  precedee    d'une    repetition    de 


88  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

chant  sacre   a   laquelle    tons  les  membres 
sont  pries  d'assister. 

TOUTES  LES  PLACES  SONT  LIBRES. 

Les  membres  non  communiants  qui  de- 
sirent  assister  a  la  ceremonie  de  la  Com- 
munion sont  invites  a  prendre  place  dans 
les  bancs  de  cote. 

REVERSE. 

M Rue 

Le  conseil  presbyteral  de  I'eglise  St.  Jean 
vous  rappelle  que  le  service  de  la  Sainte 
Cene  aura  lieu  a  I'eglise  St.  Jean  (Russell 
Hall),  1876,  rue  Ste.  Catherine,  le  Diman- 

che 

a  Tissue  du  service  du 

et  vous  invite  cordialement  a  y  participer. 

Vous  voudrez  bien  apporter  la  presente 
carte  et  la  remettre  a  I'ancien  qui  la  de- 
mandera  avant  la  celebration  du  service  de 
la  Sainte  Cene. 

The  chalice,  or  communion  cup,  is  a 
favorite    device    on    sacramental    Tokens. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  89 

Thirty-one  of  Mons.  Frossard's  French 
Tokens  are  decorated  with  une  coupe  eu- 
charistique,  and  I  have  seen  stray  notices 
of  several  others. 

Many  of  the  Scottish  and  Canadian 
Tokens  bear  the  likeness  of  the  sacred 
cup.  One  in  my  collec- 
tion from  Dysart,  Scot- 
land, 1804,  is  specially 
noteworthy.  A  dotted 
circle  surrounds  a  cup 
having  a  broad  foot,  a  short  stem,  a  not 
very  deep  bowl,  and  a  handle  on  each  side. 
A  tolerably  fair  model  of  the  ministerial 
chalice  used  by  the  primitive  Church. 

The  preference  for  this  emblem  doubt- 
less dates  back  to  the  early  part  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  when  it  was  adopted  as 
the  badge  of  the  Hussites.  The  "  Com- 
munion of  the  Cup  "  became  their  watch- 
word, and  the  cup  itself  was  blazoned  on 
their  banners.  The  eucharistic  wine  had 
been  forbidden  to  the   laity,   and  the  Re- 


90  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

formers  contended  for  the  use  of  both  the 
communion  elements.  As  a  name  marking 
their  belief,  members  of  the  new  party  were 
known  as  "  Utraquists  "  (or  "  Calixtines  ") 
and  the  term  is  still  a  familiar  one  in  Bo- 
hemia and  Moravia, 

Considering  the  importance  of  the  cup, 
or  rather  of  the  consecrated  wine,  in  the 
observance  of  the  sacrament,  this  may  be 
an  appropriate  place  to  introduce  some 
items  connected  with  its  use  in  the  sacred 
service. 

The  Christian  Church  was  scarcely  es- 
tablished when  a  difference  of  opinion 
sprang  up  on  this,  as  on  almost  all  other 
doctrines  and  practices.  Many  insisted  on 
using  pure  wine.  The  Armenian  Church 
zealously  contended  for  this,  and  still  ad- 
here to  it  as  an  article  of  their  faith.  At  the 
other  extreme  were  a  number  of  heretical 
sects,  Aquarians,  Hydroparastatje,  Docetse, 
Ebionites,  Tatianites,  and  others,  who,  on 
various   pleas  of  ascetism   and   mysticism, 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  91 

used  nothing  but  water  in  the  Eucbaristic 
celebration. 

The  most  common  practice  was  to  min- 
gle water  with  the  wine.  A  variety  of 
reasons  was  given  for  this.  Some  justified 
it  by  referring  to  real  or  supposed  Jewish 
Passover  customs.  Others  contended  for 
it  as  a  type  of  the  blood  of  Jesus,  shed  on 
the  cross  when  "blood  and  water  "  (John 
xix:  34)  followed  the  thrust  of  the  soldier's 
spear. 

The  Byzantine  Church  poured  boiling 
water  into  the  wine  as  an  emblem  of  the 
fervency  of  their  faith.  Some  thought 
that  red  wine  was  the  suitable  token  of 
the  Redeemer's  blood.  Others  contended 
for  white  wine  as  signifying  the  purity  of 
the  hope  that  was  in  them. 

We  are  too  apt  to  think  of  the  first  cen- 
turies of  Christianity  as  times  of  peace, 
and  piety,  and  purity.  The  very  opposite 
was  the  case.  Enquiring  minds  (so  called) 
were  as    fashionable    then    as    now.     The 


92  STORT  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

deadly  heresies  and  mystical  fantasies  of 
those  times  find  their  exact  counterparts 
in  the  empty  agnosticism  and  vapid  whim- 
sicalities which  infest  the  Church  of  to-day. 
Many  good  Christian  people  who  now  come 
to  the  Lord's  table,  "strain  out  the  gnat,  and 
swallow  the  camel,"  (Matt.  xxiii:24)  just  as 
some  Church  members  did  in  the  days  of 
old. 

I  find  the  mixed  cup  early  referred  to 
in  the  Episcopal  Church.  A  rubric  of 
Edward  VI.  provides  the  addition  of  "a 
little  pure  and  clear  water  to  the  wine 
of  the  Communion." 

There  is  a  curious  direction  given  in  the 
first  Service  Book  of  Edward  VI.  Some 
communicants  were  evidently  inclined 
to  drink  from  the  chalice,  instead  of 
merely  sipping  the  wine.  The  minister 
is  enjoined  to  "  give  every  one  to  drink 
once  and  no  more."  The  reminder  is 
strong  of  St.  Paul's  rebuke  in  i  Cor. 
XI:    21. 


STORY  Ot    THE  TOKEN.  93 

That  there  was  abundant  reason  for  this 
restrictive  warning  is  very  evident  from 
the  complaints  made  by  devout  ecclesias- 
tics as  to  the  behaviour  of  communicants. 
After  the  laity  were  debarred  from  the 
sacramental  wine,  it  would  seem  as  if  a 
compromise  had  been  introduced  so  as  to 
reconcile  them  to  the  innovation.  After 
the  celebration  of  the  Mass,  a  sort  of  imi- 
tation of  the  love-feasts  of  the  early  Church 
was  permitted.  In  1325,  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  complains  bitterly  that,  after 
the  Easter  communion,  "  unconsecrated 
oblations  and  wine  were  given  them  in  the 
Church,  where  they  sit,  and  eat  and  drink, 
as  they  would  in  taverns."*  Many  appear 
to  have  come  as  of  old,  simply  for  the 
loaves  and  fishes. 

In  the  accounts  of  the  diocese  of  Dur- 
ham there  are  repeated  charges  (1370  to 
1387)  for  communion   wine  in  large  quan 


^  Notes  and  Queries.  Jan.,  1S56. 


94  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

tities.  The  smallest  amount  quoted  is  at 
Monk-Wearmouth,  1380.  Ifi  vino  enipto 
pro  celebraciojie  et  commmiione  parochiaiw- 
runi,  "five  shillings  and  four  pence  '"^  With 
wine  at  four  pence  a  gallon,  this  must  have 
furnished  fair  refreshment  for  a  small 
parish. 

Tokens  were  evidently  much  used  in 
France.  I  find  them  frequently  referred 
to  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  French  Protestant 
Historical  Society.  The  volume  for  1853 
contains  a  long  extract  from  the  Transac- 
tions of  the  Antiquarian  Society  of  Mori- 
nie,  1834.  The  article  is  written  by  M. 
Alex.  Hermand,  who  seems  to  be  a  Roman 
Caiholic  author,  and  a  man  of  considerable 
learning.  He  dwells  much  on  the  anti- 
quity of  the  term,  and  does  not  hesitate 
to  afifirm  that  Tokens  {jnereaux)  were  used 
for  many  pur[)oses  prior  to  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury.   The  material  of  these  Tokens  varied 


Azotes  attd  Queries,  Nov.,  1855. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  95 

greatly.  They  were  made  of  paper,  paste- 
board, wax,  leather,  glass,  and  at  last  were 
generally  made  of  lead  or  brass. 

Like  the  Roman  tesserce,  they  sometimes 
had  a  representative,  but  not  an  intrinsic 
value.  A  purse  full  of  mereaux  was  no 
better  than  an  empty  purse. 

"  States,  provinces,  municipalities,  cor- 
porations, fraternities,  cathedral  chapters, 
and  every  kind  of  organization  had  their 
appropriate  Tokens.  In  short,  they  were 
used  as  tickets  or  Tokens  of  admission, 
or  as  certificates  of  brotherhood  at  convoca- 
tions of  every  kind.  At  sheriff-courts, 
synods,  conferences  of  communities  and 
abbeys,  free-masons'  lodges,  etc.  All  cor- 
porate organizations  used  them,  and  even 
in  the  Protestant  churches  they  were  dis- 
tributed to  those  who  desired  admission  to 
the  communion." 

In  this  Historical  Society  magazine.  To- 
kens are  often  mentioned  as  a  ready  and 
necessary  means   of  protection   and  disci- 


96  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

pline.  In  some  cases  a  special  church  re- 
gister was  kept  and  the  name  of  each 
member  recorded,  who  asked  admission 
to  the  communion.  There  are  frequent 
glimpses  of  the  power  of  government  and 
the  firm  rule  exercised  by  the  church  ses- 
sions of  those  early  days. 

I  find  the  same  migration  of  Tokens 
which  has  been  already  spoken  of  as  exist- 
ing in  Scotland  and  Canada,  resulting  from 
the  same  causes.  This  was  the  means  of 
introducing  Tokens  among  the  German 
Reformed  Churches  bordering  on  France. 

One  very  characteristic  incident  is  nar- 
rated at  great  length.  In  1584,  a  lady  of 
rank,  attached  to  the  Court  of  Navarre, 
Madame  du  Plessis-Mornay,  made  a  long 
visit  for  rest  and  recreation,  to  Montau- 
ban,  then  as  now,  a  stronghold  of  Protest- 
antism. In  her  new  home  she  came  into 
determined  conflict  with  Mons.  Berault, 
the  pastor  of  the  Church.  The  National 
Synod  had  prescribed  strict  rules  as  to  the 


STORT  OF  TEE  TOKEN.  97 

plainness  of  dress  and  personal  adornment 
of  church  members.  In  consequence  of  these 
regulations,  Mons.  Berault  debarred  from 
the  Holy  Supper  all  those  women  who 
*'  parted  their  hair."  Madame  de  Mornay, 
with  her  court  fashions,  fell  under  the  ban 
and  was  forbidden  to  commune.  Her 
husband  sent  the  pastor  a  written  list  of  the 
communicants  in  his  household  and 
requested  Tokens  {jiih-eaux)  for  them. 
Mons.  Berault  returned  for  answer  that 
"he  had  trouble  enough  with  his  own 
flock."  The  Madame,  with  her  children 
and  servants,  appeared  at  the  pastor's  pre- 
liminary catechizing  and  were  promptly 
boycotted.  He  would  not  even  acknowl- 
edge the  presence  of  the  men-servants  "  who 
were  not  subject  to  any  rule  about  their 
hair." 

Session,  Presbytery,  and  Synod  were 
invoked  in  turn.  Decisions  were  given  in 
favor  of  Madame  as  being  a  stranger  and 
not  subject   to    local   restrictions,   but  the 


98  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

zealous  clergyman  contrived  to  evade  their 
edicts  and  exclude  the  lady.  She  at  last 
found  a  more  considerate  pastor  in  a 
neighboring  village,  where  she  and  her 
family  were  welcomed  to  communion.  All 
the  attendant  circumstances  are  narrated 
in  full  detail  and  forma  striking  picture  of 
early  church  discipline.* 


*  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  de  V  Histoire  du  Protestan- 
tisnie  Fran(^ais.      ire  annee,  pp.  4S7-514. 


X. 

TOKENS    IN    HOLLAND. 

I  have  discovered  that  the  use  of  Tokens 
was  at  one  time  common  in  Holland,  and 
it  may  still  exist  there,  1  have  two  Tokens 
of  different  types  (mentioned  by  Rev.  Mons. 
Frossard),  from  the  Walloon  Church  at 
Amsterdam,  both  dated  1586,  and  which 
were  used  there  till  1828. 

What  is  known  as  the  Walloon  Church 
was  originally  composed  of  Flemish  and 
French  refugees,  chiefly  the  latter.  French 
pastors  were  in  charge  and  doubtless  intro- 
duced Tokens  and  other  French  customs. 
During  the  persecution  in  Britain,  under 
the  Stuarts,  many  of  the  Non-conformists 
took  refuge  in  Holland.  There  were 
Scotch  churches  in  Amsterdam,  Leyden, 
and  other  principal  cities.  Many  eminent 
ministers  were  in  charge  of  them  and  must 
have  used  their  own  forms  of  worship. 


100 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 


I  have  several  other  Tokens  and  Bread- 
Pennies  from  Amsterdam  and  Rotterdam. 
The  dates  are  from  1707  to  1861.  Some 
of  them  are  said  to 
be  from  Lutheran 
churches.  Two,  of 
764  and  1  786,  bear 
the  same  devices 
and  legends,  but 
are  of  very  differ- 
ent types.  On  one  side  is  the  crown  of 
thorns  with  palm  branches,  and  on  the 
other,  a  swan.  The  mottoes  are,  Regnum 
C/u'istt,  and,  Perefinis  Candor e. 

In  ancient  times,  the  Swan  was  wel- 
comed by  sailors  as  a  sure  presage  of 
smooth  seas  and  safety.  Niinquam  jnergtt 
i?i    2tndis.     ("  No   storm    could   overwhelm 

it.") 

The  swan,  or  references  thereto,  appears 
so  frequently  on  Luther's  numerous  medals, 
that  it  may  be  called  his  attribute.  The 
reason  for  this  is  as  follows  : 


STORY  OF  THE   TOKEN.  101 

When  John  Hus  was  about  to  be  led  to 
the  stake,  at  Constance,  July  6th,  1415,  he 
said  to  his  judges:  '^  For  this,  in  one 
hundred  years,  ye  shall  answer  to  God,  and 
to  me." 

What  may  be  termed  the  official  date  of 
Luther's  Reformation  is  usually  given  as 
October  3rst,  15 17,  a  century  after  the 
death  of  Hus. 

The  name  '"  Hus  "  is  the  Bohemian  word 
iov  goose.  As  he  was  being  bound  to  the 
stake  he  said  to  those  around  :  "  Ye  may 
burn  this  goose  (Hus),  but  from  its  ashes 
will  rise  hereafter  a  swan  whose  singing  ye 
shall  not  be  able  to  silence." 

It  is  usually  believed  that  both  these 
pro])hetic  utterances  were  fulfilled  in  the 
great  Reformer,  and  the  allusions  to  them 
on  Luther's  medals  are  frequent.  I  have 
an  old  silver  medal  with  the  bust  of  Hus 
on  one  side  and  that  of  Luther  on  the 
other.  Around  the  latter  is  this  legend  : 
Was  lene  Gans  Gedacht  Dat  Diser  Schwan 


102  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

Vollbracht.  A  modern  medal  of  Luther, 
in  my  collection,  has  a  figure  of  Hus  at  the 
stake,  and  reads  :  Jetzt  Braiet  Ihr  Eine 
Gans.  Nach  H under t  Jahren  Kommt 
Eifi  Schwan  Den  Werdet  Ihr  Ungebraien 
Lan.  I  have  another  old  Hus  medal  with, 
Centum  Revolutis  Annis  Deo  Respofidebitis 
et  Mihi. 

In  spite  of  this  well-known  connection 
between  Luther  and  the  swan,  1  have  not 
succeeded  in  connecting  my  swan  Tokens 
with  the  Lutheran  Church.  All  the  Luth- 
eran authorities  I  have  consulted  disclaim 
any  afifinity  with  the  Communion  Token, 
as  being  foreign  to  their  usages  and 
traditions. 

Like  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  their 
altars  are  understood  to  be  open  to  all 
worshippers  without  restriction.  At  the 
same  time,  I  find  every  churcli  exercising 
an  oversight  as  to  the  personality  of  its 
communicants.  The  details  vary  some- 
what in   different  countries  and   I   do  not 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  103 

think  they  are  quite  uniform,  even  in  the 
same  country.  I  find  some  clergymen 
insist  on  previous  notice  from  intending 
communicants,  so  that  only  the  requisite 
number  of  wafers  may  be  consecrated. 
Others  follow  a  more  or  less  elaborate 
system  of  day-book  and  ledger  accounts, 
and  thus  keep  themselves  informed  of  the 
faithfulness  of  each  church  member. 

I  have  a  Lutheran  sacramental  wafer, 
stamped  with  the  figure  of  Christ  on  the 
cross  and  the  letters  "  I.  N.  R.  I."  {/e/isus 
Nazarenus  Rex  Judaorum.^ 

I  have  two  copper  Tokens  without  date 
which  are  of  the  same  pattern,  though  one 
is  of  much  ruder  workmanship  than  the 
other.  In  the  centre  is  a  pelican  feeding  her 
her  young.  The  legend  is,  Sigil.  Eccle.  Fless. 
("Seal  of  the  Church  of  Flushing.")  The 
ancient  fable  of  the  pelican  tearing  her  own 
breast  and  feeding  her  young  with  the  blood 
is  one  of  the  oldest  emblems  of  Christ,  who 
shed  his  blood  for  his   children,  and  gave 


104  STORY  OF  THE  TOREK 

himself  for  the  redemption  of  mankind. 
"  I  am  like  a  pelican  of  the  wilderness," 
(Ps.  cii:  6)  was  understood  to  be  propliet- 
ically  spoken  of  the  Messiah  and  to  exem- 
plify the  love  he  bears  to  his  people,  feed- 
ing and  caring  for  them  in  the  wilderness 
of  this  world.  In  an  old  book  of  emblems 
the  pelican  is  shown  surrounded  by  her 
hungry  brood.  The  lesson  is  enforced  by 
the  couplet: 

"Our  Pelican,  by  bleeding  thus, 
Fulfilled  the  Law,  and  cured  us."* 

The  following  stray  lines  (I  know  not 
from  what  source)  quaintly  set  forth  the 
popular  recognition  of  the  symbol: 

///  pelicaniis  fit  matris  sanguine  sanns,  sic 
genus  hu7nanum  fit  Ckristi  sanguine  sanus. 
("As  the  pelican  is  revived  by  its  motlier's 
blood,  so  are  all  mankind  restored  to  life 
by  the  blood  of  Christ.") 


*Georg^e  Wither,    A    collection    of  eviblemes   (sic) 
quickened  with  metrical  illustrations,  London,  1634. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  105 

Shakespeare  does  not  omit  to  take 
notice  of  this  current  belief.  Laertes 
threatens  the  direst  vengeance  against  the 
murderers  of  his  father,  and  in  the  same 
breath  promises — 

"  To   his  good  friends  thus  wide  I'll  ope 

my  arms, 
And,  like  the  kind  life-rendering  pelican, 
Repast  them  with  my  blood." 

Hainlet,  act  iv,  scene  5. 

These  Tokens  were  sent  to  me  as  coming 
from  the  Lutheran  Church  of  Flushing, 
Holland.  It  seems  more  probable  that 
they  should  belong  to  the  Walloon  Church. 


XI. 

TOKENS    USED    BY  THE  UNITED    BRETHREN. 

I  have  a  very  handsome  card  Token 
which  is  used  in  the  Church  of  the  United 
Brethren  {U/iifas  Fratrum)  at  Bethlehem, 
Pa.  The  use  of  such  cards  was,  at  one 
time,  the  general  custom  of  their  Church. 
Previous  to  the  sacramental  season,  all 
members  were  examined  by  the  minister, 
as  to  their  spiritual  condition.  If  the 
interview  {^Das  Sprechen)  was  satisfactory, 
each  received  a  card  with  his  name  written 
thereon.  Before  the  communion  these 
cards  were  collected  by  the  officers  of  the 
Church.  The  object  being,  as  with  every 
other  Church  exercising  due  watchfulness, 
to  insure  worthy  participation  in  the 
ordinance. 

I  have  two  Tokens  that  were  used  for 
many  years  by  a  mission  church  belonging 
to  these   Brethren,  in   the  Island  of  Santa 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  107 

Cruz,  Danish  West  Indies.  One  is  an 
octagonal  piece  of  copper,  which  was 
given  to  the  intending  participants,  on  the 
Sabbath  before  the  communion,  provided 
they  successfully  passed  the  ordeal  of  the 
church  officers  at  the  "  preparation  meet- 
ing." This  Token  was  presented  to  the 
pastor  during  the  intervening  week  at  "  the 
speaking."  If  he  also  was  satisfied  as  to 
the  spiritual  fitness  of  the  applicant,  the 
copper  piece  was  exchanged  for  a  mahog- 
any Token.  This  is  the  real  admission 
ticket,  and  is  taken  up  at  the  "  love  feast  " 
which,  in  this  church,  precedes  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Both  of 
these  Tokens  are  stamped  with  the  letters 
"  F.  B.,"  signifying  Friedens  Berg,  or 
*'  Mountain  of  Peace,"  the  name  of  the 
mission  station  on  this  island.  These 
Tokens  were  for  many  years,  generally  used 
in  that  part  of  the  world.  They  are  now 
fast  disappearing.  The  present  minister 
(Rev.  A.  B.  Romig)  believes  that   his  con- 


108  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

gregation  is  the  only  one  still  using  them 
in  the  West  Indies.* 

The  United  Brethren  were  formerly 
accustomed  to  appeal  to  "the  lot"  for 
direction  in  their  church  work,  and  even 
in  some  circumstances  of  their  daily  life. 
Traces  of  this  custom  still  remain,  and 
the  practice  is  founded  upon  such  texts  as 
Prov.  xvi  :  t^t,:  "The  lot  is  cast  into  the 
lap;  but  the  whole  disposing  thereof  is  of 
the  Lord."  And  Acts  i:  26:  "And  they 
gave  forth  their  lots,  and  the  lot  fell  upon 
Matthias." 

One  of  their  clergymenf  writes  to  me  that 
about  a  century  ago,  no  matter  how  satis- 
factory the  preliminary  interviews  had 
been,  a  final  appeal  was  made  to  the  lot. 
If  that  decided  against  the  member,  he 
refrained  from  going  forward  to  the  com- 


*I  learn  that  this  Church,  not  many  years  ago, 
used  a  metal  Token  in  the  Island  of  Antigua,  West 
Indies.  I  have  not  succeeded  in  adding  a  specimen 
to  my  collection. 

f  Rev.  Edwin  J.  Reinke,  Grace  Hill,  Iowa. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 


109 


munion.  We  may  smile  at  this  manner 
of  reaching  a  decision,  but  it  is  a  striking 
example  of  the  trust  and  simplicity  that 
characterized  this  Church,  which  pre- 
eminently walked  "  by  faith,  not  by  sight." 
St.  Thomas,  another  of  the  Danish  West 
India  Islands,  has  a  Reformed  Dutch 
Church  which  used  a  Token,  up  to  a  very 
recent  date.  It  is  an  oval  pewter  Token, 
of  a  type  very  common  in  Scotland  and 
Canada.  It  is  inscribed  "  Communion 
Token,      Reformed 


Dutch  Church,  St. 
Thomas."  On  the 
reverse  are  the  oft- 
repeated  texts,  "But 
Let  a  Man  Examine  Himself,"  and  "  This 
Do  In  Remembrance  of  Me."  The  custom 
is  now  discontinued. 

This  is  the  only  instance  I  have  been 
able  to  discover  of  the  use  of  Tokens  by 
the  Dutch  or  German  Reformed  Churches 
in  America.     A  Scotch  minister    who  was 


110  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

in  charge  at  St.  Thomas,  several  years 
ago,  is  probably  responsible  for  its  intro- 
duction. 

Tokens  are  also  to  be  found  at  the  Anti- 
podes. Wherever  the  Scotch  Presbyterian 
colonist  established  himself,  his  church,  his 
school,  and  all  their  distinctive  belongings, 
readily  obtained  "  a  local  habitation  and  a 
name." 

In  Australia  and  New  Zealand  the  old 
formality  is  still  practised. 

I  have  two  handsome  Tokens  of  precise- 
ly the  same  type  and  device.  They  both 
read,  "Presbyterian  Churcli,  Otago,  N.  Z." 
The  reverse  has  the  same  familiar  texts 
that  are  met  with  on  older  specimens,  near- 
er home, — "The  Lord  Knoweth  Them  That 
Are  His,"  iSlC.  They  bear,  respectively,  th^ 
church  names  of  "Kaihiku"  and  "Warepa." 
The  time  has  come  which  the  prophet  saw 
afar  off,  when  "the  isles  shall  wait  for  His 
law,"  when  there  shall  be  heard  "his  praise 
from    the  end  of    the  earth, — the  isles  and 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  Ill 

the  inhabitants  thereof."  (Isa.  xlii  :  4- 
10.)  The  emigrant  to  the  waste  places 
of  New  Zealand  has  carried  with  him 
the  Church  of  his  fathers  and  all  its 
customs. 

I  have  a  neat  nickel  Token  from  Cres- 
wick,  Victoria,  Australia,  with  the  familiar 
and  suggestive  texts,  "  But  Let  a  Man 
Examine  Himself,"  and  "This  Do  In 
Remembrance  of  Me." 

Even  in  that  far-off  country,  the  spirit  of 
change  is  abroad.  The  new-fangled  card 
is  driving  out  the  antique  disc  of  metal, 
I  have  a  card,  "Token  of  Admission  to 
the  Lord's  Table,"  with  appropriate  quota- 
tions from  Luke  and  Corinthians.  This 
comes  from  Erskine  Church,  Carlton, 
Victoria,  Australia. 


XII. 

EARLY    USE     OF    TOKENS    IN    SCOTLAND. 

The  fathers  of  the  Reformation  were, 
above  all  things,  conservative  men.  A 
Church  fashioned  in  every  respect  on  the 
apostolic  model,  was  the  ideal  which  they 
sought  to  establish.  As  they  particularly 
avoided  the  use  of  novelties  in  all  the 
details  of  church  service,  it  is  far  more 
likely  that  they  adopted  a  custom  already 
hallowed  by  primitive  usage,  than  that  they 
were  led  to  introduce  an  innovation  of 
their  own. 

The  Token  practice  seems  to  have 
struck  its  roots  deepest  into  Scottish  soil, 
and  there  it  became  universally  adopted. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  Church  of  Scotland  was  held 
in  Edinburgh,  December  20,  1560,  and 
that  year  the  Reformation  was  recognized 
as    an    accomplished    fact.     Tokens    were 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  113 

already  in  use,  for  in  the  Records  of 
St.  Andrews'  Kirk  Session,  May  2d,  1560, 
there  is  mention  of  a  person  who  refused 
"ane  tecket."  In  the  municipal  records 
of  Edinburgh,  1578,  there  is  a  charge 
made  for  "tikkets,"  and  another  for 
"stamping  of  thame,"  by  one  of  the  city 
goldsmiths. 

Mr.  R.  W.  Cochran-Patrick  of  Beith, 
gives  an  account  of  his  Token  researches. 
His  oldest  date  on  a  Token  is  1622. 
He  adds,  "  probably  some  of  the  un- 
dated ones  are  earlier."  The  first  rec- 
ord he  has  discovered  of  the  use  of 
metal  Tokens  is  in  Edinburgh,  1574, 
though  they  may  have  been  used  in  St. 
Andrews,  a  year  or  two  before  that 
date. 

He  concludes  his  remarks  with  :  "Leaden 
counters  were  used  in  the  Catholic  churches 
before  the  Reformation.  I  have  some  in 
my  collection  with  emblems  on  them  which 
could  hardly  have  been  in  use  in  the  Pres- 


114  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

byterian  Church,  in  the  17th  or  i8th  cen- 
tury."* 

In  the  Session  Records  of  South  Leith, 
Tokens  are  first  referred  to  September 
i8th,  1613.  The  Elders  are  designated 
by  name  for  their  respective  duties  and 
six  Elders  are  appointed  "for  ye  Tickets." 
April  15th,  1614,  six  Elders  are  again 
named  "  for  ye  resaiueing  (receiving)  of 
ye  Tickets." 

John  Spalding,  in  his  Troubles  and  Me- 
morable Transactioiis  in  Scotland  and  Eng- 
land, f  giving  an  account  of  the  General 
Assembly  that  was  convened  at  Glasgow, 
November  21st,  1638,  makes  an  incidental 
reference  to  the  practice.  "Within  the  said 
church,  the  Assembly  thereafter  sitts  doun. 
The  church  doors  was  straitly  guarded  by 
the  toun.     None  had  entrance,  but  he  who 


*  Notes  and  Queries,  June  28,  1S79. 

f  Mejnorialls  of  the  Trubbles,  published  by  the 
Spalding  Club.  Aberdeen,  1850.  2  Vols.  Vol.  I, 
p.  117. 


STORT  OF  THE  TOKEN.  115 

had  ane  Tokin  of  lead,  declareing  that  he 
was  ane  Covenanter."* 

This  seems  exactly  like  a  repetition  of 
the  Roman  use  of  the  Token  as  a  Tessera 
Militarise  on  which  the  soldier's  watch- 
word was  engraved,  and  without  which, 
no  one  was  permitted  to  pass. 

The  St.  Andrews'  Kirk  Session  Register, 
1559  to  1582,1  lately  published  by  the 
Scottish  History  Society,  contains  much 
curious  sacramental  information.  The  use 
of  the  Tokens  is  constantly  spoken  of  as  a 
common  and  well  established  practice. 

May  2nd,  1560,  Walter  Adie  is  brought 
before  the  Session  and  charged  with  having 
contemptuously  rejected  "  ane  tecket  " 
proffered  to  him  by  William  Mayne,  one 
of  the  elders.  %  Wednesday,  May  7th,  1572, 


*  (Original  spelling)  : — "  The  churche  durris  was 
straitlie  gardit  by  the  toune,  none  had  entress  bot 
he  who  had  ane  taikin  of  leid,  declairing  he  wes  ane 
covenanter. 

\Sl.  Andrews  Kirk  Session  Register^  i^^g-1^82, 
Edinburgh,  1889. 

Xlbid.  p.  34, 


116  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

there  is  a  decree  of  the  Session  against 
those  who  present  themselves  at  commu- 
nion without  Tokens.  I  copy  the  edict 
verbatim  and  modernize  the  spelling.  "The 
which  day  the  seat  (Session)  has  ordained 
that  in  time  coming,  none  shall  present 
themselves  to  the  communion  without 
tickets  received  from  the  clerk  of  the 
quarter  where  they  dwell,  or  minister.  Knd 
who  that  does  the  contrary  shall  make  pub- 
lic satisfaction,  and  upon  their  knees  ask 
God's  and  the  congregation's  forgiveness."* 

June  3d,  1573,  this  very  emphatic  ordi- 
nance is  supplemented  as  follows  : — "  The 
said  day,  it  is  decreed  by  the  Session  that 
the  Act  made  in  their  books,  regarding 
them  that  present  themselves  to  the  com- 
munion without  tickets,  or  with  counter- 
feit tickets,  of  the  date  of  May  7th,  1572, 
be  put  in  execution."! 

In   1659,  nearly  a  century    after   this,  I 


*  Ibid.  pp.  365,  366. 
\Ibid.  p.  379- 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  117 

find  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Andrews  passing 
a  resolution  of  similar  import.  "  The 
Presbytery  considdering  the  great  scandall 
committed  by  such  quho  having  Tokens 
allowed  to  them  for  receiving  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  Supper,  doe  not  make 
use  thereof,  bot  give  them  to  such  as  are 
not  allowed  by  the  Minister  and  Session  to 
that  ordinance,  upon  good  grounds,  doe 
appoint  both  the  parties,  in  such  cases,  to 
be  publicklie  rebuiked."* 

This  offence  of  receiving  Tokens,  as  it 
were  under  false  pretences,  and  then  giv- 
ing them  to  unworthy  persons  who  could 
not  themselves  obtain  them,  was  a  frequent- 
ly recurring  scandal  and  grievance  through- 
out the  churches.  So  disreputable  was  it 
considered  to  be  debarred  from  the  crown- 
ing sacrament  of  the  church,  that  many 
devices  to  obtain  admission  were  resorted 
to,  besides  the  one  just  mentioned. 


*  SL  Andrews'  Session  Records.     Life  and  Work. 
Edinburgh.   April,  1888.   p.  61. 


118  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

Two  cases  of  discipline  were  acted  upon 
by  the  Session  of  Mauchline,  where  the 
parties  had  endeavored  to  deceive  the  El- 
der by  dropping  a  small  coin  into  his  hand. 

In  1646,  two  members  were  cited  to  ap- 
pear before  the  Presbytery  of  Lanark,  "  for 
stealing  the  communion  in  the  Church  of 
Carmichael."  In  1647,  the  session  of  Gals- 
ton,  Ayrshire,  censured  a  man  for  "  giving 
a  ticket  to  a  strange  unknown  woman,  to 
whom  the  minister  refused  a  ticket  for 
manifold  reasons."  The  woman  was  also 
subjected  to  discipline  for  receiving  and 
making  use  of  the  Token.* 

From  these  dates  onward  I  find  the 
tickets,  or  Tokens  constantly  mentioned. 
Their  use  was  evidently  an  established 
adjunct  of  the  observance  of  the  sacra- 
ment. 


*  Scottish  National  Memorials.    Edited  by  James 
Paton.      Glasgow,  1S90.     p.  343. 


XIII. 

GENERAL    USE    OF     TOKENS     IN      SCOTLAND. 

The  religious  gatherings  to  which  the 
Tokens  pertained  became  completely  inter- 
woven with  the  daily  life  of  the  people  and 
were  looked  upon  as  a  devout  recreation. 
As  a  proof  of  this  I  find  that  in  England, 
when  farm  servants  were  being  hired  they 
stipulated  for  time  to  enjoy  the  diversions 
of  so  many  wakes  and  fairs  during  the 
year.  On  the  north  side  of  the  Tweed, the 
Scotch  ploughman  or  dairymaid  bargained 
for  permission  to  attend  the  neighboring 
sacraments.  Sometimes  a  lukewarm  appli- 
cant agreed  for  ^'  one  sacrament  or  two 
fairs,"  as  might  be  most  convenient  for  the 
employer.  This  plainly  indicates  the  rela- 
tive importance  attached  to  the  respective 
holidays.* 


*  Peter  s  Letters  to  his   Kinsfolk.     Anon.     (John 
Gibson  Lockhart.)    Edinburgh,  1819.    pp.  301-321. 


120  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

Several  items  which  I  have  gleaned  in 
the  course  of  my  reading  may  not  be  out 
of  place  here,  as  illustrations  of  the  growth 
and  prevalence  of  the  venerable  custom, 
and  of  sacramental  usages  in  general. 

In  session  records,  the  words  "  Tickets" 
and  "  Tokens  "  are  used  interchangeably, 
according  to  the  fancy  of  the  clerk. 
Written  cards  and  metal  Tokens  are  met 
with  in  the  same  Church  and  at  the  same 
time. 

In  1590,  the  Session  of  St.  Andrews  paid 
for  the  Token-moulds  and  2,000  Tokens. 
In  May,  1596,  this  session  decrees,  "  that 
no  person  hereafter  shall  write  tickets  to  the 
communion,  nor  yet  present  tickets  here- 
after, but  such  as  the  session  shall  ordain 
to  that  effect,  under  pain  of  public  admo- 
nition and  repentance."  In  February,  1600, 
it  is  further  enacted  "  that  every  ticket  bear 
the  person's  name  and  the  examiner's 
name."* 


*  St.  Andrews'  Kirk  Session  Register,  ij 82-1 600. 
Edinburgh,  1S90,  pp.  SiS,  920. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  121 

In  1673,  the  Session  of  Galston  decided 
"  to  give  to  the  Elder  of  each  quarter,  a 
certified  list  of  all  the  communicants  within 
his  district,  and  as  many  tickets  as  there 
were  names  upon  his  list."  In  1735,  the 
Session  of  Mauchline  met  after  sermon  on 
the  Fast-day,  and  *'  the  Elders  received 
Tokens  to  distribute  to  their  respective 
quarters.'"^ 

These  are  exactly  the  methods  now  pur- 
sued by  the  churches  who  use  cards.  A 
regular  account  is  kept  with  each  person, 
and  it  can  be  told  at  a  glance  if  members 
are  careless  in  their  attendance  at  com- 
munion. 

There  are  frequent  intimations  that  tick- 
ets were  also  made  of  metal.  In  the  expense 
account  of  the  Church  of  Dumbarton,  1620, 
there  is  a  charge,  ''For  three  pounds  of 
lead  to  be  tickets  to  the  communicants,  6 
shillings."     (Edgar,  p.  314.) 

Returning  to  the   St.  Andrews   Register^ 

*  Edgar's  OA/ C/^«?r/^  Life,  pp.  134-135. 


123  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

the  following  sacramental  references  are 
noted,  July,  1583,  one  man  is  sharply 
rebuked  for  offering  a  counterfeit  ticket 
at  the  Lord's  Table,  and  another  who  had 
not  been  at  examination,  and  had  not 
received  a  ticket,  tried  to  pass  with  his 
employer's  ticket,  but  found  himself  in 
the  grasp  of  the  church  law.  (p.  505.) 

November,  1583,  Alexander  Sharp, 
baker,  presents  a  bill  of  ^<^  os.  8d.,  "for 
seven  year's  bread  bygone,  furnished  by 
him  to  the  communion."  This  does  not 
speak  well  for  the  business  habits  of  the 
session,  (p.  513.) 

May,  1595,  a  contumacious  woman  is 
made  to  appear  publicly  in  church  and  "ask 
God  and  the  congregation  forgiveness 
for  not  coming  to  communion  and  refus- 
ing to    be    reconciled    to    her    neighbor." 

(P-  797) 

July,  1598,  arrangements  are  made  for 
the  communion,  and  special  Elders  are 
detailed  "  to  labor  for  taking  away  of  all 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  123 

offences  and  feuds  among  the  neighbors  of 
this  city,  for  the  better  humiliation  of  the 
people  and  preparing  of  them  to  the  said 
holy  work."  And  again,  in  March,  1599, 
the  session  "  ordained  all  the  feuds  and 
offences  among  the  neighbors  of  this  city 
to  be  taken  away  and  agreed  • — whosoever 
refuses  and  absents  themselves  from  that 
holy  table,  to  be  punished  therefor  : — 
wilful  refusers  to  communicate,  shall  be 
excommunicated,"  To  which  is  added, 
"no  tickets  shall  be  given  to  such  persons 
as  have  not  paid  their  part  of  the  contri- 
bution to  the  poor."  (pp.  861,  884.)  This 
preliminary  duty  is  frequently  insisted  on. 
(pp.  845,  884,   906.) 

October,  1595  : — "  It  is  statute  that  no 
person  be  admitted  to  the  communion,  but 
such  as  confess  the  truth  with  us,  and  sub- 
tracts not  themselves  from  preaching  and 
catechizing  ;  and  that  can  say  the  Lord, 
his  Prayer  and  Ten  Commandments,  and 
that   can  answer   to    the   questions  of  the 


134  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

Little  Catechism  ;  and  that  be  sixteen  years 
of  age."  (p.  809,) 

April,  1596,  minute  details  are  specified 
for  the  communion.  The  tickets  are  to  be 
written  and  subscribed  by  the  clerk,  and 
countersigned  by  the  ministers.  The 
Elders  are  designated  by  name  for  their 
respective  duties.  Four  Elders  are  '*  to 
stand  at  the  little  kirk  door,  to  receive  and 
try  the  tickets,  and  none  to  enter  but  at 
that  door."   (p.  815.) 

July,  1598,  special  directions  are  again 
given  for  the  coming  celebration.  ''  Upon 
the  next  Sabbath  the  morning  preaching 
to  begin  at  five  hours,  and  such  as  hear  that 
preaching  shall  then  communicate  only  ; 
and  to  that  effect  the  doors  to  be  locked 
at  the  ending  of  the  Psalm  ;  William 
Moffat  and  Andrew  Watson  are  appointed 
to  collect  the  tickets."  (p.  862.) 

At  Galston,  1634,  a  man  had  to  make 
public  repentance  and  pay  a  fine  of  ten 
shillings    for   giving   away  his   Token.     In 


STORT  OF  THE  TOKEN.  125 

1673,  the  same  Session  records  that  "  sev- 
eral hundreds  of  tickets  are  distributed 
among  strangers  with  sufficient  testimonials 
from  several    places."       (Edgar,    pp.    239, 

173.) 

I  have  already  mentioned  a  troublesome 
incident  at  Mauchline,  in  177 1.  As  I  hap- 
pen to  own  the  Token  in  use  there  at  that 
time,  I  give  the  circumstances  at  length. 
The  Token  is  round,  thin,  and 
about  the  size  of  an  English 
sixpence.  A  young  lad  going 
forward  to  his  first  com- 
munion, excited  and  oblivi- 
ous of  minor  matters,  handed  the  Elder  a 
sixpence.  This  was  a  heinous  offence.  The 
boy  was  promptly  summoned  before  the 
session  and  called  to  account.  He  expressed 
great  sorrow,  all  the  more  no  doubt  because 
he  had  nearly  lost  his  sixpence.  It  was 
easy  for  him  to  show  that  he  meant  no  dis- 
respect to  the  ordinance,  but  that  did  not 
save  him  from  being  formally  rebuked  for 


126  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

his  irreverent  heedlessness,  and  admonish- 
ed to  be  more  careful  in  time  to  come. 
(Edgar,  202.) 

Rev.  John  Semple  of  Carsphairn,  Kirk- 
cudbrightshire, was  a  kind  of  John-the- 
Baptist  Covenanter.  Bold,  fearless  and 
devout,  "  All  men  counted  him  that  he 
was  a  prophet  indeed."  The  following 
anecdote  {circa,  1^5°)  is  recorded  of  him  : 
''  Upon  a  certain  time,  when  a  neighboring 
minister  was  distributing  Tokens  before 
the  sacrament,  and  was  reaching  a  Token 
to  a  certain  woman,  Mr.  Semple  (standing 
by)  said,  '  hold  your  hand,  she  hath  gotten 
too  many  Tokens  already  ;  she  is  a  witch  ;' 
which,  though  none  suspected  her  then, 
she  herself  confessed  to  be  true."* 

In  Dr.  McCrie's  Story  of  the  Scottish 
Church,  is  a  very  picturesque  account  of  a 
moorland  communion  among  the  hills  of 
Teviotdale,  during    the    persecution    circa 


■^John     Howie,    Scot's     Worthies.       Edinburgh, 
1870,   p.   3S0. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  127 

1670.  The  people  gathered  on  the  banks 
of  the  Whittader.  The  men  were  more  or 
less  armed,  as  the  enemy  had  threatened  to 
break  up  the  solemnity,  ''  and  trample  the 
sacred  elements  imder  foot."  Some  hun- 
dred and  fifty  or  more  horsemen  were 
stationed  as  pickets  and  sentinels  to  guard 
against  a  surprise. 

From  Saturday  morning  till  Monday 
evening  the  services  were  continued  with- 
out interruption.  Five  ministers  officiated 
and  all  the  usual  formalities  were  gone 
through  with.  Sixteen  tables  were  served 
and  3,200  persons  communicated  that  day. 
*'  None  were  admitted  without  Tokens  as 
usual,  which  were  distributed  on  the  Sat- 
urday, but  only  to  such  as  were  known  to 
some  of  the  ministers,  or  persons  of  trust, 
to  be  free  of  public  scandals."* 

Rev.Robert  Wodrow,  of  Eastwood,  Ren- 


*Rev.  Thomas  McCrie,  D.D.,  LL.D.  The  Story 
of  the  Scottish  Church,  Edinburgh.  1875.  pp.  307- 
310. 


138  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

frewshire,  that  most  industrious  historian 
and  biographer,  gives  us  in  his  Analecia,  the 
following  Token  item  which  occurred  at 
his  own  communion,  in  171 1.  "  Two  or 
three  English  soldiers  presented  themselves 
at  that  communion,  and  one  of  them  came 
forward  without  a  Token.  He  happened 
to  be  seated  near  the  upper  end  of  the 
table,  within  whispering  reach  of  Wodrow 
himself,  who  seeing  that  he  had  no  Token, 
desired  him  to  come  out  to  the  church 
yard,  where  he  asked  him  why  he  had 
presumed  to  seat  himself  at  the  Lord's 
table  without  a  Token  of  admission.  '  In 
my  native  country,'  replied  the  soldier, 
'  there  is  no  such  custom  as  you  refer  to, 
and  if  I  have  given  offense  it  was  not  of 
intention,  but  in  ignorance  of  Scottish 
ways.'  Wodrow  then  examined  him,  and, 
being  well  satisfied  with  his  answers,  gave 
him  a  Token,  and  told  him  he  might  go 
forward  to  the  next  table."* 


*  Scottish    National  Memorials,   Glasgow.  i8go. 
p.  343- 


STORY  OF  THE   TOKEN.  129 

In  1727,  the  following  entry  occurs  in 
the  church  book  of  Ettrick,  Selkirkshire. 
''  The  Session  met  to  distribute  Tokens, 
but  finding  that  a  horse-race  was  to  come 
off  before  Communion  Sabbath,  forbade 
any  member  to  attend  and  decided  to  hold 
over  the  Tokens  till  after  the  race." 

Forfar  Session  records  tell  of  a  man  who 
was  compelled  to  return  his  Token  to  the 
Elder,  because  he  had  been  absent  from 
Church  on  one  of  the  days  of  prepara- 
tion. 

In  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson's  celebrated 
Tour  to  the  Hebrides,  1773,  we  read  of  a 
visit  he  paid  to  the  Rev.  Kenneth  McAu- 
lay,  at  Cawdor,  Invernessshire.  Boswell 
tells  that,  "  Mrs.  McAulay  received  us,  and 
told  us  her  husband  was  at  the  Church  dis- 
tributing Tokens.  We  arrived  between 
twelve  and  one  o'clock  and  it  was  near 
three  before  he  came  to  us."  Boswell  fur- 
ther adds  in  a  foot-note,  "  In  Scotland  there 
is  a  great   deal    of  preparation   before   ad- 


130  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

ministering  the  sacrament.  The  minister 
of  the  parish  examines  the  people  as  to 
their  fitness,  and  to  those  whom  he  ap- 
proves, gives  little  pieces  of  tin,  stamped 
with  the  name  of  the  parish,  as  Tokens, 
which  they  must  produce  before  receiving  it. 
This  is  a  species  of  priestly  power,  and 
sometimes  may  be  abused.  I  remember  a 
law  suit  brought  by  a  person  against  his 
parish  minister,  for  refusing  him  admis- 
sion to  that  sacred  ordinance."* 

Dr.  Jamieson  {Scottish  Dictiotiary)  takes 
notice  of  the  mistake  made  in  ascribing  so 
much  power  to  the  minister,  who  only  co- 
operates with  his  elders  in  maintaining  dis- 
cipline. Boswell,  though  a  Scotsman,  was 
an  Episcopalian,  which  probably  accounts 
for  his  note  being  deficient  in  clear  and 
exact  description. 

The  fact  is  that  the  very  reverse  of  Bos- 
well's    statement     is    correct.       When    the 


*  Croker's  Boszvell.     New  York,  i860,    p.  361. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  131 

minister  and  elders  gathered  by  the  pul- 
pit to  distribute  the  Tokens,  the  first  thing 
done  was  to  constitute  the  Session  by  the 
opening  prayer.  All  doubtful  cases  were 
thus  decided,  not  by  the  minister  alone, 
but  by  the  Session,  as  the  lawfully  organized 
Church  Court.  As  has  been  already  noted, 
the  opposite  rule  prevails  in  the  Episcopal 
Church,  where  the  officiating  clergyman 
both  possesses  and  exercises  the  power  of 
excluding  all  those  who,  in  his  judgment, 
are  "evil-livers,"  or  who  "remain  obstinate 
in  their  frowardness  and  malice,"  toward 
their  neighbors.  He  is,  of  course,  required 
to  report  all  such  cases  to  the  bishop,  or 
his  deputy,  for  approval. 

In  the  "Annals  of  the  Old  School 
Church,"  by  the  Rev.  David  Scott,  of  Salt- 
coats, Scotland,  there  are  several  instances 
where  discipline  and  tokens  are  mentioned 
together.*     The     following    examples    are 


*Rev.  David  Scott.     Annals  and  Statistics  of  the 
Original  Secession    Church.   Edinburgh.    1886. 


132  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

from  the  Session  records  of  an  Edinburgh 
church. 

October  5,  1800:  Two  members  were  cen- 
sured for  walking  in  a  Masonic  procession. 
November  3,  1800  :  One  of  them  professed 
his  penitence  before  the  Session,  was  re- 
buked by  the  Moderator  and  served  with  a 
Token.  * 

May  8,  1834,  being  the  Fast-day,  A — 
was  reported  to  the  Session  as  having  been 
seen  leaving  town  by  the  railway.  He  after- 
wards stated  that  he  went  to  see  a  friend 
who  had  lately  met  with  an  accident.  Ad- 
ding that  "  he  left  it  with  the  Session  to 
give  or  withhold  a  Token  as  they  saw 
cause."  His  excuse  was  not  accepted  and 
he  was  refused  his  Token. f 

October  5,    1835:     B and  his   wife 

were  reported  as  living  "  on  no  very 
amiable  terms,"  and  were  refused  Tokens. 
Before  next  communion  they  promised  to 


*  I/'icl  pp.  447-44S. 
t  7 did.    p.  45r. 


STORY  OF  THE   TOKEN.  133 

"forget  their  quarrels  and  live  in  har- 
mony." They  were  granted  their  Tokens 
accordingly,* 

These  extracts  all  tend  to  show  how 
thoroughly  incorporated  the  Tokens  had 
become  with  the  religious  observances  of 
the  people  and  what  stress  was  laid  on 
their  proper  and  reverent  use. 


Ibid.  p.  453. 


XIV. 

TOKENS    AS    CONNECTED    WITH  THE  LORD'S 
SUPPER, 

We  now  live  in  the  era  of  new  practices 
and  new  fashions.  Some  of  us  who  can 
recollect  the  old  styles,  look  back  upon 
them  with  regret.  We  all  remember  them 
with  feelings  of  deep  interest.  The 
lengthy  communion  services  may  have 
been  at  times,  a  weariness  to  the  flesh. 
Still,  I  delight  to  recall  my  boyish  remi- 
niscences of  the  solemn  and  suggestive 
ceremonies. 

How  intently  I  used  to  watch  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  Tokens.  There  were 
floating  traditions  of  applicants  who  had 
been  refused.  Such-a-one  had  quarrelled 
with  a  neighbor.  Such-another-one  had 
come  home  from  the  fair  with  more  than 
he  could  well  carry.     Some  for  one  reason, 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  135 

some  for  another,  had  been  debarred  from 
approaching  the  holy  ordinance.  Would 
such  a  case  happen  to-day  ? 

There  went  one  person  who  fell  short  of 
my  juvenile  standard  of  perfection.  Would 
he  dare  to  ask  for  a  Token  ?  Would  he 
get  one  if  he  did  ? 

And  then,  on  the  Sabbath,  how  curiously 
I  observed  the  Elders  going  their  rounds. 
Would  they  find  any  one  without  a  Token? 
If  so,  what  would  happen  ?  Would  the 
"  minister's  man  "  be  called  upon  to  lead 
the  offender  out  by  the  collar  ?  Might  it 
not  even  come  to  a  case  before  the  Fiscal, 
or  the  "Shirra,"  with  thirty  days  in  jail  at 
the  end  of  it  ? 

Enough  to  say  that  nothing  so  dreadful 
ever  occurred  in  my  experience.  Away 
out  here,  in  a  little  Wisconsin  church,  I 
learned  of  a  woman, — no  man  would  ever 
have  dared  to  do  such  a  thing, — who 
actually  sat  down  at  the  table  without  a 
Token.     There  was  a   short    but  decisive 


136  STORT  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

conference  among  the  Elders,  and  the 
criminal  was  at  once  escorted  to  the  door, 
where,  woman-like,  she  sat  down  and  had 
a  good  cry. 

As  possibly  an  additional  reason  for  her 
summary  expulsion,  my  informant  added 
significantly,  "  she  was  also  accused  of 
promiscuous  heai'ing'' 


XV. 

NOTICES    OF    SPECIAL    TOKENS. 

There  is  a  "  love  of  money"  which  is 
not  "the  root  of  evil,"  I  have  been  a 
votary  of  tliis  love  ever  since  I  was  old 
enough  to  distinguish  between  a  copper 
with  a  foreign  face  and  the  "bawbees"  of 
every  day  currency.  The  habit  has  stuck 
to  me  all  my  life,  till  my  modest  beginning 
with  a  few  battered  halfpence  has  grown 
to  be  a  very  respectable  collection  of 
coins. 

Some  years  ago  I  began  to  gather  sacra- 
mental Tokens,  partly  because  tliey  be- 
longed to  what  may  be  called  the  depart- 
ment of  ecclesiastical  numismatics,  and 
partly  because  they  were  linked  with  my 
early  Scottish  memories  of  what  was  most 
solemn  and  sacred  in  our  church  services. 
I  kept  on  quietly  picking  up  one  here  and 


138  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

another  there,  as  opportunity  offered, 
never  dreaming  that  any  one  but  myself 
cared  for  them. 

All  at  once  I  found  that  there  was  a  rage 
for  Tokens  and  that  collectors  were  every- 
where in  the  field.  At  the  Glasgow  Inter- 
national Exposition  of  1888,  there  was  a 
case  containing  1,500  Tokens.  I  am  in 
correspondence  with  a  gentleman  in  Scot- 
land, who  has  upwards  of  5,000.* 

In  view  of  this,  I  have  been  made  to 
feel  how  insignificant  my  own  work  has 
been. 

Still,  my  little  collection  is  not  without 
some  features  of  interest.  I  have  speci- 
mens from  the  length  and  breadth  of 
Scotland.  From  the  very  ''  Ultima  Thule," 
from  Northmaven  in  the  Shetland  Islands, 
from  Westray  and  from    Hoy  in   the  Ork- 


*Mr.  John  Reid,  13  Wellmeadow,  Blairgowrie, 
Scotland.  An  indefatigable  collector  who  will  wel- 
come any  correspondence  relating  to  Tokens  or 
communion  customs. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  139 

ney  Islands,  down  to  the  Tweed  and  the 
Solvvay,  Berwick  and  Gretna.  Edinburgh 
in  the  east  and  Glasgow  in  the  west  are 
well  represented.  I  have  several  pieces 
from  every  county  in  Scotland,  and  many 
counties  make  a  liberal  display. 

I  am  indebted  to  the  Rev.  William  Bell 
of  Gretna,  for  an  almost  unique  Token  of 
that  Church.  It  is  marked  "D.  C.,"  which  he 
amplifies  into  Aeinvov  xpzs-rof ,  or  "  Sup- 
per of  the  Lord."  From  references  to  it  in 
the  session  records,  this  Token  must  be- 
long, at  least,  to  the  seventeenth  century. 

Some  Tokens  from  the  Highland 
Churches  have  their  legends  in  the  native 
Gaelic. 

Here  is  a  sample  from  the  parish  of 
Stornoway,  Island  of  Lewns,  Northern 
Hebrides.  Eaglais  Shaor  Charlabhach. 
("  Free  Church  of  Carloway.")  Deaiiaibh  So 
Mar  Chuimhneachan  Or?nsa.  (i  Cor.  xi  :  24.) 

I  have  ten  Tokens  from  the  Presbyter- 
ian   Churches  of    England,  and  two    from 


140 


STORY  OF  TEE  TOKEN. 


the  Isle  of  Man.  Mr.  Reid,  of  Blairgowrie, 
has  more  than  a  hundred  Tokens  from 
England.  Several  of  these  date  back  to 
the  seventeenth  century.  It  is  to  be  noted 
that  very  many  of  the  old  Scotch  Tokens 
have  "  K  "  for  Kirk.  Nearly  all  the  English 
Presbyterian  Churches,  and  the  Scotch 
Churches  in  England,  mark  their  Tokens 
with  "  M."  for  Meeting-house. 

I  have  a   round    dozen   of  Tokens  from 
Ireland,    stretching    from    Larne    to    Tip- 
perary.     The  Larne  Token  proudly  chron- 
icles the  fact,  that  the 
church  to  which  it  be- 
longs   was   erected  in 
1627.    I  have  130  from 
Canada,  reaching  from 
St.  John's,  Newfound- 
land, to  the  Kildonan  Church,  at  Winnipeg.* 
I  have  50    from  the  United  States,    ex- 


*A  writer  in  Harper's  Magazine,  'March,  1SS6, 
mentions  that  Communion  Tokens  are  still  used  in 
Cape  Breton. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 


141 


tending  from  Vermont  to  Georgia.  Three 
from  the  West  Indies,  two  from  New  Zea- 
land, and  one  from  Australia,  swell  my 
cabinet  to  upwards  of  800. 

I  have  several  in  which  I  feel  a  per- 
sonal concern.  I  have  one  from  the 
church  round  which  lie  the  graves  of  my 
grandparents,  my  father,  and  many  of  my 
kindred.  I  have  one  from  the  church 
which  I  attended  in  my  early  youth.  This 
Token  bears  the  name 
of  the  most  varied  and 
comprehensive  author 
that  ever  adorned  the 
Secession  Church.* 
I  have  one  from  the  church  of  which  I 
first  became  a  member.  It  is  stamped 
with  the  initials  of 
the  great  historian  of 
Knox  and  Melville. f 
It  may  possibly  be  the 

*  Rev.  James  Aitken  Wylie,  LL.  D.      His  name 
is  misspelled  on  the  Token. 

f  Rev.    Thomas    McCrie,    D.    D.,    LL.   D. 


142 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 


very     Token    that    admitted    me    to    the 
sealing  ordinance  of  the  Church. 

I  have  a  rude  Token  marked  "  G.  K." 
(Georgetown  Kirk)  that  may  have  per- 
formed the  same  office 
for  my  wife  in  her  lit- 
tle backwoods  church. 
More  than  3,000  miles 
^^  apart  and  ignorant  of 
each  other's  existence, 
we  were  observing  the  same  ordinance  and 
conforming  to  the  same  custom. 

I  have  representatives  of  many  churches 
whose  names  are  familiar  as  household 
words  in  Reformation  history,  St.  An- 
drews, Perth,  Aberdeen,  and  similar 
places. 

I  have  one  from  Cambuslang  marked 
with  the  year  1742,  the  very  date  of  what 
has  long  been  known  as  the  "  Cambuslang 
wark,"  the  greatest  revival  that  occurred  in 
the  Church  of  Scotland. 

I    have    one    of    the     same    year    from 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  143 

Mauchline,  where  Robert  Burns  lived  for 
a  considerable  time  and  he  may  have  used 
this  identical  Token. 

I  have  one  from  Longside,  Aberdeen- 
shire, where  the  venerable  Bishop  Skinner 
was  Episcopal  minister  for  64  years,  and 
where  he  composed  those  beautiful  Scottish 
songs  which  are  the  very  embodiment  of 
humor  and  sweetness. 

1  have  four  Tokens  from  Ceres,  in  Fife- 
shire,  the  dates  ranging  from  17 19  to  1850. 
In  this  village  the  Secession  Church  held 
its  first  communion,  in  1745,  when  up- 
wards of  2,000  communicants  partook  of 
the  sacrament.  The  Tokens  used  on  that 
occasion  were  of  the  most  primitive 
description,  being  small  discs  of  leather 
with  a  hole  in  the  centre. 

In  shoit,  I  might  mention  every  Token 
that  I  have,  for  each  one  brings  up  some 
historical  or  local  association.  Such  re- 
membrancers should  never  be  deemed 
insignificant  nor  unimportant. 


144  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

Another  pleasant  feature  in  my  collec- 
tion is,  that  every  specimen  is  a  token  of 
help  and  interest,  and  a  warm  desire  to  see 
my  work  prosper.  Every  piece  speaks  of 
the  efforts  of  some  friend  in  my  behalf. 

One  specially  interesting  Token  is 
marked  "G.M.,  (General  Meeting)  1745." 
And  on  the  reverse,  "  L.  S."  (Lord's  Sup- 
per.) This  comes  from  the  bitterly  persecut- 
ed little  society  known  as  the  Cameronians 
or  ''  Hillfolk,"  whose  members  during  the 
''  killing  time"  were  hunted  for  their  lives, 
"  as  when  one  doth  hunt  a  partridge  in  the 
mountains," 

The  poor  struggling  remnant  kept  on 
protesting  and  testifying  against  "right 
hand  snares  and  extremes,  and  left  hand 
wayslidings,"  with  few  leaders  and  a  very 
shadow  of  an  organization.  At  length,  in 
1743,  they  formed  a  Presbytery,  but  the 
old  name  of  general  meeting  was  still  kept 
up  by  the  Societies,  who  had  no  regular 
minister.   This  rudely  lettered  Token  came 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  145 

to  me  from  Penpont,  near  the  English 
border.  A  famous  place  in  the  old  Cove- 
nanting days. 

Well  aware  as  I  am  of  the  strong  Puri- 
tanic feeling  of  our  fathers,  and  knowing 
how  thoroughly  they  disliked  any  thing  that 
savoured  of  the  mystical  Babylon,  I  have 
been  much  surprised  at  a  device  found  on 
some  Tokens.  They  are  actually  blazoned 
with  a  cross.  Methlick,  in  Aberdeenshire, 
displays  a  cross  on  its  Token  with  the  date 
1776.  At  first  I  thought  that  it  might  have 
been  adopted  as  a  kind  of  compromise  with 
the  Episcopal  neighbors  who  abounded 
there,  but  it  was  little  the  Presbyterian 
Church  knew  about  compromise  in  those 
days. 

Away  at  the  other  extreme  end  of  the 
country,  I  iind  Langton,  in  Berwickshire, 
exhibiting  a  cross  with  the  text,  Col.  i:  20, 
"having  made  peace  through  the  blood  of 
His  cross."  I  am  surprised  that  some 
"douce    David    Deans"    did    not    testify 


146 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 


against    the     Romish    tendency    of    these 
emblems. 

Rousay,  in  the  Orkney  Islands,  also 
shows  a  plain  cross,  and  I  have  one  from 
Arbroath,  Forfarshire,  with  a  Roman  cross 
and  the  motto,  Sa/us  Cruce  ("  Salvation  by 
the  cross.")  I  am  certain  of  one  thing, 
that  none  of  these  cross  Tokens  were  ever 
issued  by  a  Seceder  Church. 

A  very  suggestive  Token  is  from  Meth- 
ven,  Perthshire,  1824.  The  device  is  a 
dolphin,  with  the  legend: 
Trauquillus  In  Undis 
Mediis.  ("  At  rest  amid 
the  storms.")  I  have  also 
a  Token  from  Northma- 
vine,  Shetland  Islands, 
1809.  It  is  stamped  with  a  plain  fish, 
showing  no  marked  characteristics,  and 
there  is  no  suggestive  motto,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Methven  Token. 

The  ecclesiastical  antiquary  does  not 
need  to  be  told  of  the  important  place  occu- 


STORY  OF  J^HE   TOKEN.  147 

pied  by  the  fish  in  Christian  iconography. 
While  the  "  discipline  of  the  secret  "  pre- 
vailed, the  fish  was  the  cherished  emblem, 
and  token,  and  sibylline  password  by  which 
the  brethren  identified  each  other.  Three 
centuries  before  the  lamb,  the  dove,  and 
even  the  cross  itself  were  openly  used  as 
Christian  devices,  the  little  bronze  fish  was 
secretly  worn  as  a  Tessera  by  the  new 
convert.  It  was  at  once  a  reminder  of  his 
vows  and  a  badge  of  his  faith.  The  fish 
was  so  intimately  connected  with  Christ's 
works,  teachings,  and  apostles,  that  it  was 
believed  to  be  prophetically  significant 
when  the  Greek  letters  of  its  name 
IXQT2^  (/e/it/iys,  Piscis),  were  found  to 
be  the  initial   letters  of    the  Greek  words 

ItJCTOV?     XpKTTO?     QsOh      TlOS      ^GDTTJPy 

('•Jesus  Christ,  God's  Son,  Saviour,")  a 
sentence  which  sets  forth  both  His  divine 
and  human  nature,  as  well  as  his  mediatorial 
office.  This  symbol,  so  generally  known 
and  so  deeply  reverenced  by  the  primitive 


148 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 


believers,  is  a  most  appropriate  figure  to  be 
revived  on  the  Communion  Tokens  of  the 
latter  day  Church. 

My  oldest  Scottish  date  is  1678,  and 
belongs  to  St.  Andrew's  Church,  Brecliin, 
Forfarshire.  This  being 
ten  years  before  the 
Revolution,  it  stamps 
the  piece  as  an  Episco- 
Presbyterian  Token. 
From  this  period  to  the  Revolution  in 
1688,  five  ministers  of  this  church  were 
also  bishops  of  Brechin.  From  167810  1682, 
the  Rev.  George  Haliburton,  D.  D.  was 
incumbent  of  this  charge  and  bishop  of  the 
diocese.  During  this  Episcopal  era,  worship 
was  conducted  according  to  the  Presby- 
terian order  and  without  a  liturgy.  This 
may  partly  account  for  the  use  of  the 
Tokens,  though,  as  I  have  already  stated, 
the  old  Episcopal  Churches  in  this  district 
all  used  them.  Several  of  my  undated 
Tokens  must  be  older  than  this  one.     One 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN  14.9 

from  Aiichterarder,  Perthshire,  can  be 
traced  back  as  far  as  1584.  The  Token 
already  mentioned  as  belonging  to  Samuel 
Arnot  of  Tongland,  must  have  been  made  in 
1661.  Many  of  my  specimens  are  of  such 
rude  workmanship  that  they  may  belong 
to  the  first  years  of  the  Reformation.  I 
have  quite  a  number  of  Tokens  of  the  last 
century,  from  1700  downwards. 


XVI. 

TOKENS    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

What  has  been  like  a  revelation  to  me 
in  my  research  was,  finding  out  the  ex- 
tensive use  of  Tokens  in  the  United  States. 
All  the  early  Presbyterian  churches  appear 
to  have  used  them.  In  the  Fourth  Pres- 
byterian Church,  of  New  York  City, 
Tokens  were  used  from 
1784  to  1870.  Those 
last  in  use  were  marked 
"Associate  Church," 
"  N.  York,  1799." 

Several  churches  in  Pennsylvania  and 
New  York  still  cling  to  this  badge  of  their 
fathers.  Scattering  congregations  in 
Massachusetts,  Maine,  Vermont,  Maryland, 
and    even    California,     insist    on     Tokens 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  151 

from  their  communicants.  There  are 
probably  many  others  of  which  I  have  no 
knowledge.  I  believe  I 
am  a  little  proud  to  say 
that  there  is  at  least  one 
church  in  Wisconsin  that 
has  not  yet  swerved  from 
the  old  way.* 

Over  200  United  States  Tokens  have 
lately  been  described  and  illustrated  in 
the  Americaft  Journal  of  Nii7nis77iatics.\ 

These  form  the  collection  of  the  late 
Mr.  Thomas  Warner,  of  Cohocton,  N.  Y.X 


*  R.  P.  C,  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church, 
Vernon,  Wis.  In  1848,  a  U.  P.  Church  was  or- 
ganized in  Vernon  and  still  flourishes.  Its  early 
card-board  Tokens  were  soon  replaced  by  small, 
squares  of  lead.  I  have  samples  of  both  kinds. 
The  current  of  change,  or  possibly  of  improve- 
ment, has  swept  them  out  of  sight.  The  Reformed, 
or  Cameronian  Church  still  distributes  its  Tokens. 

fVoI.  XXII,  July,  18S7,  to  April,  1888,  both 
inclusive. 

:}:Alas  !  that  I  should  have  to  write  "  the  late  Mr; 
Warner."     Since  I  took  up  this  subject,  I  regret  to 


152  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

His  genial  notes  and  comments  on  what 
he  aptly  styled  "  the  medallic  history  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country," 
show  that  the  classifying  and  deciphering 
of  them  had  indeed  been  to  him,  a  labor 
of  love. 

Mr.  Warner  crowned  his  work  by 
reproducing  the  magazine  articles  in  a 
handsome  monograph,  printed  for  private 
distribution  only. 

Some  35  years  ago,  a  United  Presbyte- 
rian Church  was  organized  here  in  Neenah, 
Wisconsin.     For  Tokens  they  used  pieces 


say  that  some  of  my  correspondents  have  passed 
over  to  the  majority.  I  especially  mourn  three 
friends  who  took  great  interest  in  my  work,  and 
constantly  encouraged  me  to  persevere.  I  may  be 
pardoned  for  mentioning  their  names  and  the  dates 
of  their  death. 

Rev.  James  Aitken  Wylie,  LL.  D. ,  Edinburgh, 
May  ist,  1890.  Rev.  Edward  Anderson  Thom- 
son, D.  D.,  Free  St.  Stephens,  Edinburgh, 
October  14th,  1S90.  Mr.  Thomas  Warner,  Cohoc- 
ton,  N.  Y.,  October  17th,  iSgo. 

Vale,  vale,  atnici  carrissimi. 


STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN.  153 

of  tin.  The  movement  was  weak  and 
short-lived.  Church  and  Tokens  have 
long  since  faded  from  view.  Two  of  my 
American  Tokens  are  from  Vernon,  Wis- 
consin. 

I  have  one  piece  which  carries  with  it 
quite  a  history.  It  is  a  round  Token  of 
silver,  rather  less  than  a  half-dollar,  the 
devices  on  which  are  engraved.  The 
obverse  bears  the  well  known  heraldry  of  the 
Scottish  Church,  the  burning  bush  with  the 
famous  legend,  Nee  Tamen  Consumebatiir. 
("Nevertheless  it  was  not  consumed.") 
Fitting  emblem  and  motto  for  a  Church 
which  has  passed  through  the  furnace. 
On  the  reverse  is  a  draped  table  with  a 
chalice  and  paten  and  the  text,  ''  This  Do 
In  Remembrance  Of  Me."  On  the  edge 
is,  "  Presbyterian  Church  of  Charleston, 
S.  C,   1800." 

This  was  an  old  and  wealthy  church 
with  silver  communion  plate  and  Tokens. 
The  church  was  organized  in    1731.     The 


154  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

last  Tokens  were  made  in  England.  Dur- 
ing the  late  war,  this  valuable  property 
was  sent  to  Columbia,  S.  C,  so  as  to  be 
out  of  harm's  way.  An  unexpected  col- 
umn of  Northern  troops  swept  through  the 
little  town  and  the  sacred  vessels  were 
looted  without  ceremony.  The  plate 
doubtless  found  its  way  to  the  melt- 
ing-pot, but  the  boys  probably  thought 
that  the  Tokens  were  some  kind  of  Con- 
federate money.  Several  of  them  have 
been  preserved  and  they  are  now  dropping 
into  the  cabinets  of  the  curious.  The 
figure  stamped  on  the  outer  cover  of  this 
volume,  is  t\\Q  facsimile  of  this  Charleston 
Token. 

I  may  add  that,  while  white  and' black 
members  sat  at  the  same  table  and  com- 
muned from  the  same  vessels,  the  church 
provided  tin  Tokens  for  the  colored 
membership. 

A  somewhat  similar  fate  befell  the 
Tokens    of      Dunning,    Scotland,    in    the 


STORY  OF  TEE  TOKEN.  155 

Rebellion  of  17 15.  When  the  Highlanders 
of  Mar  burned  the  town,  the  plunder  of  the 
church  yielded  little  more  than  the  leaden 
Tokens.  Finding  them  carefully  stored 
away,  and  not  being  very  familiar  with  all 
varieties  of  the  circulating  medium,  the 
wild  clansmen  at  once  concluded  that  the 
Tokens  were  money  of  some  kind  and 
carried  off  the  entire  stock.  With  the 
return  of  peace,  the  Session  had  to  pro- 
vide a  new  set  and  adopted  a  new  pattern 
and  date  so  as  to  render  the  old  ones 
useless.  I  have  one  of  these  raided  Dun- 
ning Tokens,  marked  "  D."  "  1700." 

As  I  have  already  intimated,  the  use  of 
Tokens,  to  some  extent,  still  prevails  in 
Canada  and  the  Lower  Provinces.  Mr. 
Robert  W.  McLachlan,  of  Montreal,  has 
just  published  a  list  about  equal  to  Mr. 
Warner's. 

Rev.  Thomas  Burns,  of  Edinburgh,  has 
in  the  press  a  large  and  exhaustive  volume 
on     ''  Scottish      Communion      Plate     and 


156  STORY  OF  THE  TOKEN. 

Tokens."  With  these  works  completed, 
there  will  be  little  left  for  any  petty 
student  like  myself  to  take  notice  of. 


XVII, 


CONCLUSION. 


And  now,  let  no  one  lightly  imagine 
that  so  much  patient  research  is  being 
expended  in  vain.  There  is  a  great  pleas- 
ure in  bringing  to  light  what  Mr.  Warner 
termed,  "those  stray  leaden  footprints  of 
Church  history." 

Very  many  dates  and  facts  as  to 
Churches  and  pastorates  have  been  deter- 
mined by  those  tickets  of  metal,  and  exact 
history  is  always  valuable.  No  investiga- 
tion is  really  misapplied  that  positively 
settles  where  and  when  the  work  of  the 
Kingdom  has  been  commenced  and 
advanced. 

It  is  no  light  matter  to  touch  even  "the 
hem  of  His  garment,"  if  it  is  done  in  the 
spirit  of  love  and  trust.  Let  it  not  be 
asked,  "  to  what  purpose  is  this  waste  ?" 


158  STORY  OF  TEE  TOKEN. 

Shall  not  the  careful  labor  rather  be 
"  spoken  of  for  a  memorial  "  of  those  who 
have  made  it  at  once  a  toil  and  a  delight  ? 
Of  the  reverent  collector  may  it  not  be 
said,  "he  hath  wrought  a  good  work,  he 
hath  done  what  he  could  ?" 

Not  to  every  one  is  given  the  ability  and 
the  privilege  to  "  walk  about  Zion,  and  go 
round  about  her,  tell  the  towers  thereof, 
mark  well  her  bulwarks,  and  consider  her 
palaces."  But  even  the  humble  observer 
may  be  able  to  *'  tell  to  the  generation  fol- 
lowing" some  of  those  partly  forgotten 
ornaments  which  helped,  at  one  time,  to 
make  her  "  beautiful  for  situation,  the  joy 
of  the  whole  earth." 

May  we  not,  like  the  Jew  reviewing  his 
ancient  heritage,  "  take  pleasure  in  the 
stones,  and  favour  the  dust  "  of  our  Pres- 
byterian Zion. 

FINIS     CORONAT    OPUS. 


ADDENDA   ET   CORRIGENDA. 


Page  25,  line  11  from  below,  for  my,  read — My. 

Page  56,  line  12,  add  note  :  I  find  the  same  trouble 
springing  from  the  words  "  in  due  order," 
existing  in  the  early  New  England  churches. 
One  of  the  most  prolific  sources  of  jealousy, 
quarrel  and  heart-burning  arose  from  the 
"seating  and  dignifying"  the  congregation 
in  due  order. 

The  allotment  of  pews  was  left  in  the 
hands  of  a  committee,  who  never  succeeded 
in  satisfying  their  Puritan  brethren  that  the 
honorable  places  in  the  Meeting-House  had 
been  apportioned  to  those  who  were  really 
entitled  to  occupy  them.  See  Alice  Morse 
Earle,  The  Sabbath  in  Puritan  Nezv  Etig- 
land ;  New  York,  1891  (pp.  45-65). 

Page  64,  line  8,  read — he  received. 

Page  90,  line  i  from  below,  read — asceticism. 

Page  no,  line  2  from  below,  for  his  read — His. 

Page  122,  line  11,  read — years'. 

Page  126,  n.,  read — Scots. 

Page  141,  n.,  after  Token  add  :  This  Token  is  taken 
from  the  Original  Secession  Church  of  Dollar. 


160  Addenda  et  Corrigenda. 

Page  149,  add  :  As  these  sheets  leave  my  hands  I 
have  received  a  detailed  and  illustrated  cata- 
logue of  660  Tokens  of  the  United  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Scotland.  These  form  the 
collection  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Dick,  of  Col- 
insburgh,  Fifeshire. 

Page  156,  add  :  Tn  Mrs.  Earle's  book,  referred  to 
above,  I  find  mention  of  the  Token  in  New 
England  as  "  a  very  extraordinary  custom." 
restricted  in  Massachusetts  to  the  little  town 
of  Pelham.  The  authoress  places  the  power 
of  giving  or  refusing  the  "communion-check" 
in  the  hands  of  the  deacon,  and  tells  how  the 
custom  overflowed  to  Londonderry,  N.  H. 
She  gives  a  graphic  description  of  the  cele- 
bration of  the  communion,  the  details  of 
which  are  much  the  same  as  they  are  stated 
in  these  pages. 

The  Token,  however,  was  not  confined  in 
Massachusetts,  to  Pelham.  I  know  of  Tokens 
in  Chelsea,  Sutton,  Chicopee,  and  one  church 
in  Boston  still  uses  them,  or  did  so  very  lately. 
The  Token  is  found,  not  only  all  over  New 
England,  but  wherever  the  Presbyterian 
Church  was  planted  in  the  United  States, 
and  its  presence  still  lingers  in  many  places. 


INDEX. 


Page 
Abbelen,  Rev.  P.  M.,  on  Tokens.  44 

Abbey  Tokens 72,  73 

Abbot  of  Misrule  Tokens 73,  74 

Abraxas  Stones 28 

All    Saint's    Church,    Edin.,   Card 

Token 57 

Amsterdam  Token ....  gq 

Antigonish  Token 62 

Arbroath  Token 146 

Armenian  Church go 

Arnot,  Rev.  Samuel,   Tongland   ...  61,  I4g 
Auchterarder,  Antique  Token,  ....   I4g 

Augsburg  Confession 70?  80 

Australian  Tokens m,    141 

Basilides 28 

Biblical  Mention  of  Tokens 25 

Bill  for  Communion  Bread 122 

Boswell,  James,  Note  on  Tokens..  I2g,  130 

Breadlifters 62,  63 

Bread  Pennies   73.  100 

Brechin  Token 148 


162  Index. 

Page 
Brunswick  and  Luneburg  Tokens  .  69 
Bulletin     of     French     Prot.     Hist. 

Society,  quoted 85,  94  to  98 

Burlesque  Tokens -74 

Burn,  J.  H.,  Catalogue  of  Tokens.  54 

Burns,  Rev.   Thomas,  Edin 155 

Byzantine  Church    91 

Calixtines 90 

Cambuslang  Token 142 

Canadian  Tokens 89,  140,  142,  155 

Canongate  Token 21 

Carmichael,  Parish  of.  . 118 

Catechumens 35  to  37 

Ceres  Tokens 143 

Charleston  Token 153,  I54 

Chatard,  Bishop  F.  S.,  on  Tokens.  .  43 
Cheetham,  Ven.  Samuel,  on  Tokens.  42 

City  Arms  on  Tokens 20,  21 

Cochran-Patrick,  R.  W 113 

Coins  Offered  at  Communion  Table  118,  125 

Cologne  Token 6g,  70 

Communion  of  the  Cup 89 

Communion   Customs,    Controversy 

as  to  all 62,  65,  66,  90  to  93 

Communion,  Disorder  at 52 


iJidex.  163 

Page 
Communion      Elements,      Publicly 

Tasted 67 

Communion,  Old-time 11  to  iS 

Concord,  Formula  of So 

Crabb,  Very    Rev.  James,  Dean    of 

Brechin 57 

Cross  Stamped  on  Tokens 145,  146 

Cup,  a  Common  Device  on  Tokens.  88,  89 

Dalry  Token 60,  6r 

Dick,  Rev.  Robert,  Catalogue Addenda 

Dean  of  Guild  (Edin.)  Tokens 20 

Dimissory  tetters 38 

Discipline  Connected  with  Scottish 

Tokens.    116  to  118,    122  to  126 

Discipline  and  Edin.  Tokens 131  to  133 

Discipline,  First  Book  of 82 

Distribution  of  Tokens 15,  16,  129,  134,  135 

Dollar  Church  Token,  Dr.  Wylie..  Addenda 

Dolphin  on  Token 146 

Dunning  Token 155 

Durham,     Riotous     Collection      of 

Tokens 52 

Dysart,  Chalice  Token 89 

Earle,  Mrs.  Alice  Morse,  quoted  Addenda 
Edinburgh  City  Tokens 20 


164  Index. 

Page 
Edinburgh  Session  Records i6,  132 

Edward  VI.,  Sacramental  Rubric  of  92 

Elements,  Lifting  of  the 62 

Eleusinian  Emblems 77,  78 

Eleusinian  Mysteries 29.  76 

English  Soldier  without  a  Token.  .  128 

English  Tokens 48  to  54,  139,  140 

Episcopal    Rubric   as    to    Improper 

Communicants 55,  131 

Episcopal  Token,  Glasgow    57 

Ettrick,  Parish  of 129 

Fish,  an  Early  Christian  Emblem  44,  147 

Fish  on  Tokens 146 

Flushing  (Holland)  Tokens 103,  105 

Fools,  Festival  of 73 

Forfar,  Parish  of 129 

Formatae 40,  42 

Formula  of  Concord 80 

Free-Masons'  Mark 75 

French  Card-Token,  Montreal 87,  88 

French  Confession  of  Faith 79 

French  Tokens 85  to  87.  89 

Friedens  Berg  Tokens 107 

Frossard,  Rev.  Ch.  L 86,  87,  89 

Gaelic  Token 139 


Index.  165 

Page 
Galston,  Parish  of iiS,  121,  124 

Gemmill,  Rev.  Jolm,   M,  D 61  to  64 

General  Assembly,  First  Scottish..  112 

General  Assembly,  Glasgow 114 

General  Meeting  Token 144 

Geneva  Tokens 85 

Georgetown  Kirk  Token 142 

Gillespie,  Rev.  George 16 

Glasgow  Card-Token,  R.  C.  Cathe- 
dral  46 

Grace,  Dr.  Philip,  on  Tokens   ...     44 
Gretna  Token 139 

Haddington  Token 21 

Hand,  Controversy    as    to    Bare    or 

Gloved 65 

Helvetic  Confession 79 

Henley-on-Thames  (Eng.)   Records  50 

Heresies  of  the  Cup 90 

Hermand,  Mons,  Alex 94,  95 

Horse-Race  vs.  Tokens 129 

Hus  and  Luther  Medals loi,  102 

Hussite  Communion  of  the  Cup   .  .  89 

Initiation,  Early  Church.  ...    34,  36 

Irish  Tokens 140 

Isle  of  Man  Tokens 140 


166  Index. 

Page 
Jamieson,  Rev,  Dr.  Johx  130 

Johns  Haven  Token.    62 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  Tour    to    the 

Hebrides ...   129 

K.  FOR  Kirk  on  Tokens 140 

Koinonikon 39 

Lanark  (Canada)  Token ....  61 

Larne  (Ireland)  Token 140 

Letters  of  Commendation 3S 

Letters  of  Communion 38 

Letters  from  Italy 58 

Lifting  the  Elements,   Controversy 

as  to 62 

Lifting  the  Tokens 15,  1 7 

Liturgy,  Early  Scottish 71 

Longside  Token 143 

Luther  and  Hus  Medals lor,  102 

Lutheran  Sacramental  Customs.  .  .  .   102,  103 
Lutheran  Sacramental  Wafer,  .....  103 

M.      FOR      Meeting-House       on 

Tokens 140 

Mark  of  Master-Mason 75 

Marreau  or  Mereau 79,  So,  85,  94 

Mauchline,  Discipline  at 118,  125 


Index.  167 

Page 
Mauchline  Token 125 

McCrie,  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas,   Edin.,  126,  127,  141 

McLachlan,  R.  W.,  Montreal 155 

Methven  Token 146 

Montauban   g6 

Montreal,   French  Card-Token...     87,  SS 

Mornay,  Madame  du  Plessis.  :  .  .  .  .  96  to  gS 

Munro,  Mgr.  Alex,  on  Tokens. ...     45 

Neenah  Tokens 152,153 

Newbury  (England),  Parish  Tokens  50 

Newfoundland  Token 140 

New  Year's  Tesserae .  30,  31 

New  York  City  Token 22,  150 

New  Zealand  Tokens no,  141 

Northmaven  Token   138,  146 

Old  School  Church,  Annals  of  131 

Pelican  as  a  Christian  Emblem.  103  to  105 

Pelican  on  Tokens 103 

Penpont  Token ■  144,  145 

Pergamos,  Church  of 32,  33,  78 

Plumptre,     Very    Rev.     Dean,     on 

Tokens 40 

Pole,  Cardinal,  Lists  of  Communi- 
cants  48 


168  Index. 

Page 

Rainbow  as  a  Token 25 

Reformed  Dutch  Token   .  log 

Reid,  John,  Collector 138 

Roman  Catholic  Card-Token    45 

Roman  Tesserae ,  29  to  31,  43,  95,  115 

Rosicrucians ....  74 

Sacramental  Privileges  Claimed  119 
Sacramental  Wine  Mingled  with  Ink  66 
Sacramental    Wine     Mingled   with 

Water, gi,  92 

Santa  Cruz  Tokens   107 

Scott,  Rev.  David,  Saltcoats 131 

Scottish  Communion  Customs.  ....  11  to  13,  17,  18 
Scottish     Communion      Plate     and 

Tokens 155 

Scottish  Dictionary 130 

Scottish  Moorland  Sacrament 126,  127 

Semple,  Rev.  John,  Carsphairn.  .  .  .  126 

Session  Records,  Edinburgh 16,  132 

South  Leith  Session  Records 114 

Spalding,       John,     Troubles      and 

Transactions 114 

St.  Andrews'  Session  Records 

113,  115,  116,  120,  122  to  124 
St.       Peters       (Norwich)       Token 

Accounts 50,  51 


Index.  169 

Page 

St.  Thomas'  Token lOg 

St.  Saviour's  Church,   Southwark..  48,  49 

Stock  Tokens   19 

Stornoway  Token 139 

Swan  on  Holland  Tokens 100 

Swan  on  Luther's  Medals 100  to  102 

Tesserae,      Ancient      General 

Use  of 29  to  32 

Tesserae  Sent  to  Carthage 30 

Texts  on  Tokens 19,  109,  no 

Thomson,    Rev.    Dr.    Edward     A., 

Edin 152 

Tobit 26,  29 

Tokens  as  Certificates  of  Member- 
ship     60 

Token-Books,  Southwark 48,  49 

Tokens,  Collectors  of 113,  138,  149,  151,  155 

Tokens,  Counterfeit 116,  118,  120,  122 

Token,  Definition  of  a 25 

Tokens,  Distribution  of.    ...     15,  16,  129,  131,  134 

Tokens,  Exchanging it6.  117,  118,  124 

Token-House- Yard,  London 50 

Tokens,  Improper  Use  of   117,  118,   122 

Token     Mould,     Part     of     Church 

Property 22,  23,  120 


170  Index. 

Page 
Tokens,     New    Ministers     claimed 

new     24 

Tongland  Token   61,  149 

Tradesmen's  Tokens   . 47,  48,  53,  54 

Trotter,      Rev.      Thomas,      Johns 

Haven. 62 

United  Brethren,  Token  Usages 

OF 106  to  109 

United  States  Tokens 150  to  154 

Urim  and  Thummim 78 

Utraquists. 90 

Vernon,  Wisconsin,  Tokens 151,  153 

Walloon   Church    Tokens 99,  105 

Warner,  Thomas,  Cohocton,  N.  Y.  151,  152,  157 

West  India  Tokens   107  to  109 

Winnipeg  Token 140 

Wisconsin  Church,  Incident  in ...  .  135,  136 

Wisconsin  Tokens 151,  153 

Wodrow,  Rev.  Robert,  Eastwood.  .  13S 

Wylie,  Rev.  Dr.  James  A.,  Dollar.  141,  152 

Yorkshire  Incident 56 


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